


Tied Together

by pagen_godess



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Multiple AU, Multiple Crossovers, Soul Bond, Whump, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2014-12-05
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:32:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pagen_godess/pseuds/pagen_godess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How far would you go to save the man you love? Steve's willing to take a journey through universes he never thought possible in order to get Tony back. The question is however is: Will it be enough?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Yuèlǎo

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Red Thread](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/24308) by Hadrianus-dark-1. 



> So this is one of those things that was only supposed to be a few thousand words but mutated horribly and now I can't seem to control it anymore. So instead of posting the entire thing like I planned on doing I'm going to break it up into three chapters and post one a week (maybe). That way I can get a bit of feed back as well as posting this in all of my usual places on the same day instead of on different days. Don't ask it's all deviantart's fault.
> 
> If all of you lovely people will turn your eyes to my crappy tags for a moment you'll notice that I have this down as a multiple Crossover and AU. The reason for this will be explained in the first chapter and chances are the note at the bottom of the page.
> 
> So this story was inspired by the lovely little picture that you can find on the other end of the inspired by link. So I'm going to leave you to the first chapter now. Please enjoy.
> 
> Oh and I apologize in advance if my characters are grossly out of character.

“How far are you willing to go to bring him back?” The sudden sound of an unfamiliar voice had Steve jerking to his feet and reaching for his shield in half a heartbeat. The chair he’d been sitting in four hours at a time screeched as it was pushed backwards by Steve’s sudden movement. 

“Who are you?” Steve growled, as he moved so that he had a better position in which to protect his fallen teammate and love. The man before him simply offered him a small sad smile before tucking his hands into the sleeves of his black robes. Blue eyes darted down to track the movement before moving back up to eye the stranger before him.

“You didn’t answer my question Captain,” the man said his voice soft, 

“How far are you willing to go to bring him back?” Steve tensed and remained silent unsure if the man in front of him was a threat or not. There was something about the pale skinned man that made him think of how he had felt when Thor had introduced him to his mother. The man before him didn’t feel like he meant any harm to anyone but to be fair neither did Frigga and she could wield a mean sword when push came to shove. Taking a deep breath Steve lowered his shield slightly. 

He had no other choice but to trust that the man before him didn’t mean any harm. Not that that meant that he was going to let his guard down but in this situation it seemed like it would be best to let the man before him think that he was. “What do you want?” he asked. The man offered him another smile before answering. 

“I wish only to help you and your lover. Red threads are so very rare in this world and I would hate to see another fade and break before the ones it tied together could truly begin.” Steve swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat and turned to look at the beds occupant. Tony had been utterly lifeless for days and so far no one could tell him what was wrong with the genius. 

All they knew was that something dark had torn through the armor during their last battle and before any of them had even know what had happened Tony had hit the ground and gone still as death. Only the glow of the arc reactor and his soft breaths had assured them that he wasn’t dead where he lay. There had been no physical injury of any kind and every scan they had run on the man had come back clear. It was almost like Tony had fallen asleep and couldn’t wake up. 

“What are you talking about? What red thread?” Steve questioned as he pulled the chair he’d been sitting in back to where it had been before he’d stood and sat down. His shield stayed propped up on one of his thighs and his fingers ran across the edge in a mindless motion that helped calm Steve’s nerves. The pale man took a step forward his robes swishing softly before he kneeled on the floor in front of the super-soldier. 

“You may call me Yuèlǎo and once long ago I tied the red thread around the little fingers of soul mates. Now however all I do is watch and let the thread work on its own. I find that it’s better to let pairs match naturally instead of controlling the matches like I used too.” Here the man stopped and gave a deep sigh before bowing his head in what might have been shame.

“I caused terrible things to happen once when I tied together two souls who should never have been bound together in the first place. Now I merely watch and nudge possible matches towards one another but given the situation I thought that I might be able to do something good and help fix some of the bad. Pale grey eyes locked onto Steve own blue and the sorrow there made Steve’s heart ache for him. Yuèlǎo was doing nothing more than what Natasha, Tony, and so many others were trying to do. The man before him was trying to right the wrongs of his past and Steve knew that he didn’t have the heart to turn him away.

The least he could do was humor the man and listen to what he had to say. Besides listening to Yuèlǎo talk would waste time and if he talked long enough one of the other Avengers would show up. It was getting close to lunchtime and someone always brought him something to eat or stayed with Tony so he could go get food himself. 

“Can you help him?” Steve asked as the hand that had been running along the edge of his shield reached out to wrap around Tony’s. Yuèlǎo offered him a soft smile. 

“I cannot but you can.” Steve opened his mouth to ask another question but was cut short when Yuèlǎo kept speaking. “The creature that attacked your lover is a thing of darkness and of misery. It and others like it seek out beings who’ve had lives full of such things and feed off of them. They pull the spirits from their prey’s bodies and trap them in places of darkness where there is no hope of them ever escaping on their own. 

"If he,” here Yuèlǎo paused and nodded at Tony’s still form. “Where any other soul he would die a slow death as his spirit weakened and faded away into nothing leaving his body as nothing more than an empty shell. A body without a soul dies a slow death Steve Rogers and more often than not those that are left behind cling to that empty shell and suffer much more than they should. But unlike so many others who have befallen the same fate he has a bond. A bond with you Steven Rogers that will let you find and pull him back from the darkness and into the light.” Here Yuèlǎo stopped speaking and waited. Steve didn’t know if the man was waiting for him to speak or if he was giving Steve time to take in everything he’d been told. 

Yuèlǎo’s explanation sounded as farfetched as anything he had ever heard before but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t true. He fought alongside and lived with a Norse God. Hell, the situation that Steve himself was in was something that shouldn’t have been possible. But if Steve knew anything at all about his life it was that nothing was impossible when you were an Avengers and a man out of time. He dealt with the weird and unbelievable on a daily bases and this was simply par for the course. 

The major question here however wasn’t if Yuèlǎo was telling him the truth but was if the man’s intentions were as pure as he’d have had Steve to believe. There was every chance that he could simply be waiting to kill both him and Tony after Steve agreed to whatever it was that the man had planned. 

If he did mean well however then that meant that he was just as eager to help Tony survive as Steve was. He could always ask Thor about the creatures Yuèlǎo had mentioned because surly if anyone had heard of them then Thor would have and if he hadn’t he’d know who to ask in order to find out. Taking a deep breath Steve shifted in his seat so that he could give the kneeling man his full attention. 

“If I agree what will I have to do?” And if he wasn’t nearing Tony levels of recklessness at the moment he’d head his belt. Yuèlǎo offered him a hopeful smile his pale eyes looking a little brighter.

“It is a simple spell that must be cast. The spell will use the thread between your fingers to take you to your lover. Your body will remain here asleep while your soul travels to your other.” 

“That sounds far too easy.” Yuèlǎo offered him a rueful smile.

“That’s because the only easy part of what I plan to do is the spell itself. The rest of it will be both simple and difficult. Nothing worth having after all is ever easy to obtain after all.” Steve shook his head and fought against the sudden urge to start laughing like a loon. Of course it wouldn’t be easy. Nothing in his life came without some form of trouble attached. It was a lesson that Steve had learned early in life.

“I’d have been more worried if you told me that it was going to be easy.” Steve admitted as he set his shield down next to his chair. If Yuèlǎo really wanted to hurt either of them then he’d already had his chance and if the pale skinned man was simply waiting to screw him over then he’d deserve it. Steve turned in his chair so that he was facing Tony before leaning down and placing as soft kiss on pale lips. His hand wrapped around one of his lovers and squeezed it gently before he let go. Steve climbed to his feet with a soft sigh before turning to back around so that he was standing above the sitting god. 

“When can we start?” Yup, Tony levels of stupidity and recklessness. From his place on the floor Yuèlǎo smiled.

oOo oOo oOo

“The path you will follow towards the other end of your thread will take you through many worlds. All of them worlds where you and your lover share a life together. You’ll be both gifted and cursed with glimpses of the many live you have and will share together. This is unimportant however.” Yuèlǎo paused and locked eyes with Steve before speaking again, his words all the more important. 

“The closer you come to your Tony the less of the other worlds you will see. Instead you’ll be given glimpses into the mind of your lover. The things you will see will be the things that the shadows feed upon. I cannot tell you what you will face or how to save your soul mate. All I can do is send you to him.” Steve’s eyes darted towards Thor as Yuèlǎo finished speaking. The demi-god gave a firm nod of his head. While Steve had been willing to do whatever it took to get Tony back he hadn’t been foolish enough to trust both his and Tony’s bodies being alone with Yuèlǎo. 

Thankfully Thor had shown up not long after Steve had agreed to do the spell. Steve had half expected Thor to attack the smaller man or at least demand to know why he was there. Instead his face had brightened and he’d been all too happy to help. Yuèlǎo and Thor had conversed with each other in a language that he had no hope of ever understanding before Thor had sworn that Yuèlǎo was here to help. 

“One cannot lie when he speaks the language of truth to another.” The prince had told him when he’d asked about their brief words. Steve had no real choice but to believe his friend. 

Thor wouldn’t put them in danger willingly and Steve couldn’t think of anyone better to watch over him and Tony than the god of thunder. While Thor admitted that his skills in magic were poor he still knew more about magic than anyone else in SHIELD did and it was to him they turned to when they needed advice unless they wanted to call Strange and it wasn’t often that they did want to call Strange. 

“Are you ready brother?” Thor asked as he clasped one of Steve shoulders.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Steve admitted as he let out a shaky breath. 

“Fear not Steven. All shall be well.” Thor nodded to himself his decision about the outcome of Steve’s venture absolute. 

“Go and save your love and when you return we shall hear the tale of your victory and feast.” Steve laughed and offered a smile that held more confidence than he felt at that moment. 

“It’s a deal Thor.” Thor beamed and the pair of them turned towards Yuèlǎo. The man stood at the ready his dark robes pooling around him like water that had been spilled on the floor. His eyes were bright and ready however. 

“Lay down on the bed.” Yuèlǎo nodded towards the cot that had been brought in for Steve to sleep on when he’d refused to leave the room. Steve had slept on it once since its arrival and it hadn’t been a very comfortable sleep. The cot was almost too small for his large frame and the lack of a warm body next to his had left what sleep he had been able to get unsettled and filled with nightmares. The image of Tony hitting the ground over and over again had plagued his dreams only instead of being comatose the other man had been dead. 

Steve’s footsteps seemed loud in his ears as he moved over to the cot and sat down. He took a moment to prop his shield up against the side so that it was in easy reach. It didn’t matter to him that he wouldn’t be able to use it during this mission. All that mattered was that it was nearby and that he’d be able to reach it if something went wrong and he woke up to danger. Taking a deep breath the soldier let his eyes linger on Tony for a half second before he recited a short prayer in his head and lay down on the cot. 

His eyes remained closed as Yuèlǎo spoke soft words he’d never be able to understand. As the chanting continues Steve felt the hairs on his arms begin to rise. It was the same feeling he got if he stood near Thor while to god was carrying his hammer. A soft prickle of magic on his skin that made the flesh on his arms and back break out in goose bumps. 

Unlike the prickly magic of Thor or the almost freezing magic that Loki gave off this felt smooth like sticking his hand under a running faucet and letting the water flow over his skin. This feeling was calm and peaceful and before long comforting warmth seems to settle over his skin. It was almost like falling asleep.

oOo oOo oOo

Steve jerked awake to the sensation of falling. Some part of his mind expected to hit the floor after rolling off of the cot he’d been sleeping on for the past several days. The floor never came however and his fall never stopped. At first nothing filled his vision but a deep dark red that seemed to come from everywhere. 

The longer he managed to keep his eyes open however the more the area around him changed. The red below him faded into a single thin strand before the nothing below him faded into a deep purple and then the dark blue of the night sky. And it had to be the night sky because floating before him were thousands of small lights that could only be stars.

Steve blinked again his eyes falling to the bit of red that hadn’t faded away with the rest. It was a thin strand that stretched out into the sea of stars before him. Blue eyes traced the red line back to its origin and wasn’t as surprise as he should have been to find that it was wrapped around his pinky. Yuèlǎo had told him that he and Tony were tied together by a red thread and there it was right in front of his very eyes.

It was the little thread that was pulling him down. That was pulling him towards Tony. Steve wanted to scream out Tony’s name and see if the other man would answer his call. He didn’t however whether it was because he physically couldn’t or because couldn’t bring himself to disturb the peace Steve didn’t know.

It didn’t matter however because at that moment his outstretched hand brushed against one of the small lights, that weren’t stars after all, and for a brief second the world was awash in white light before a series of lightning quick flashes filled Steve’s vision.

A warm hand on his shoulder.

A stolen kiss near a moonlit castle.

The gateway to the camp for people like them.

The sharp crack of a gun going off and a bullet tearing through a man who’d been a fool to try and touch one of his own.

These and countless over small flashes of lives that were both his and not his. All of them different. All of the shared with Tony. There was a brief second of the blue he’d seen before the flashes before he was pulled back in only this time there was more than the split second of the lives that both were and weren’t his.


	2. Following the Red Thread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Steve follows his end of the thread towards Tony he gets an eyeful of all the other universes in which they are together. Worlds full of hope and potential and worlds that have fallen in to ruin. Not that any of that really matters so long as their together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly in Steve's pov. There are about twelve parts where the pov switches from Steve's to Tony's. There will be a list at the bottom of the page that names off each crossover and AU. They'll be in the same order that they appeared in in the story.

Pandora glowed at night. Literally. The glow in the jungle was a wonder to see but there was something uniquely beautiful about the glowing grass that covered the planes. It might have had something to do with the softer green of the grass having only one glowing vain running straight up the middle of the plant. Watching the windblown grass was almost like watching ocean waves. Or at least that’s what he had to assume because he’d never actually seen the ocean himself. According to Clint there was an ocean a day or so away from their base but so far no one had offered to take him out to it. 

Not that anyone would. The only way he’d be going anywhere near the Pandorian ocean was if the scientists decided to take samples of the water. “You’re pouting again soldier.” Steve smiled and looked up at the tall blue figure coming in his direction. Steve had to smile at the sight of Tony walking around in his Na’vi avatar. It was always so strange to see Tony like this when he himself was sitting around with pale skin. 

“I am not.” 

“Yes you are. You’ve got that frown on your face that means you’re thinking about something you really want to do.” Tony said as he sat on the ground in a move that should have seemed awkward and graceless but wasn’t. 

“Are we going out?” Steve asked in an attempt to change the subject. He’d only been on Pandora for a few months and his deployment was fourteen years long so there was plenty of time for him to see the ocean. 

“No, I was just heading in actually but I decided to come over when I saw you sitting here pouting.” Tony said. His tone of voice was teasing and had an undercurrent of ‘I know what you’re doing’ that made Steve want to wince. Tony always knew when he was trying to change the subject and be sneaky about it. He always failed to but that might have had something to do with the fact that Tony could change the subject on almost anyone and not get caught doing it. Steve though it had something to do with Tony’s tendency to get into trouble. Tony said it was because he was ‘just that awesome’.

“So, I’m going to go put the big blue monkey away.” Tony said as he stood back up and stretched bright green eyes narrowed slightly and a smirk spread across pale blue lips. 

“Then I’m going to bed. Care to join me soldier?” Steve shivered at the tone Tony’s voice had taken and offered Tony his own look in return before climbing to his feet. There was a split second of silence before Steve opened his mouth a reply just dirty enough to ruffle Tony’s feathers on the tip of his tongue.

\---

Steve smiled as he rubbed a hand across the smooth skin his omega’s swollen belly. Six months along and Tony already looked like he was going to pop at any moment. Twins would do that to a fella he supposed. Not that he would know himself what with being an alpha and all. The room around him was lit only by the light of the arc reactor in Tony’s chest. The blue glow that touched the wall was moving ever so slightly with Tony’s breathing. Steve smiled a bright and slightly goofy grin that lit up his whole face for a few moments before his eyes darkened and he pressed his lips together so that he was no longer smiling. 

Worry took a firm place in his chest as he watched Tony sleep the sleep of the utterly exhausted. They hadn’t been sure at first if Tony would even be able to conceive, due to damage from the palladium poisoning and age, and truthfully they hadn’t been too worried about it because if they really wanted a child they could always adopt. Not that Tony had really seemed to want a kid to raise but he was still an omega and the desire did crop up from time to time even in someone like Tony Stark. 

So they hadn’t bothered with protection during Tony’s last heat. If Tony got pregnant he got pregnant and if he didn’t then he didn’t. Pepper had explained that Tony’s hormones were all out of whack and he’d be fertile and able to bear during one heat and infertile and unable during another. In the end Steve had been so shocked by the news when he’d gotten it, he’d learned to news from Thor because the god hadn’t been able to keep it a secret until he got home from his mission so Tony could tell him himself, that Clint swore he’d have been able to knock Steve over with a feather if he’d had one. 

He’d been so happy then, not that he wasn’t now, but now there was a bone deep worry that tended to eclipse the joy like the moon in front of the sun. Tony gave a sharp cough in his sleep and Steve found that his hand moved to his omega’s shoulder without him even thinking. When Tony settled back into an exhausted sleep and his breathing stayed the same however Steve let his hand rest back over Tony’s belly.

It was a relief to know that Tony wasn’t going to have trouble breathing for the moment Steve had been woken by Tony’s coughs and gasps for breath far too often as of late for him to be comfortable with. The babies were big enough now that they were pressing on all sorts of things and Tony hadn’t had a lot of room in his chest to spare before his pregnancy began because of the arc reactor. Now he had even less and the stress was beginning to take a toll on his body. Steve made a soft noise in his throat before leaning down so that he could bury his face in Tony’s hair and hide from what crossed his mind next. 

Because as much as the thought sickened Steve he knew that had he known about the consequences before it was too late he knew that he would have considered telling Tony to have an abortion. Children wouldn’t be worth it if the price he had to pay in order to have them was his mate. It was too late to change that now however and Tony would smother him in his sleep if he even thought that the idea had ever entered Steve’s mind for a millisecond. 

Steve knew he would deserve whatever death Tony decided to give him if the smaller man ever found out. The babies were a part of their family and no matter what your place in life you protected your family. It didn’t stop the guilt about having thought it to stop eating away at him however because Steve knew how horrible a person having those thoughts made him.

\---

“I find it amusing that you fail to understand the importance of this one little item when you obsess over its safety so.” The voice under the dark hood was nothing more than an aged croak. None of them could see any of the man’s features due to the long monk like robes he was wearing. 

The only visible part of his being was a pair withered and bony hands covered in skin that looked like old parchment. “It makes sense of course. You weren’t supposed to remember why it was important only that it was.”

“What the Hell are you going on about?” Tony asked his tone offended and full of his usual attitude. Everything from his tone to the way he was standing with his arms crossed suggested that he wasn’t even remotely worried about the silver cod watch in the robed man’s hands. Steve knew better however. He could see the small ticks that showed how worried Tony was. 

While well hidden the emotion was still there hidden in the way that Tony’s pinky and ring fingers were twitching ever so slightly against his arm. It was the only tick that worried Tony Stark ever portrayed and very few knew about it. When it was simply Tony that was worried however the man couldn’t sit still for more than a minute or two. It still amazed Steve at times that so much of who Tony really was could be hidden behind the mask he’d made to hide from the world. Steve also couldn’t deny that Tony mask came in handy from time to time, even if he still hated it when it did. 

The man chuckled the sound almost a hiss in his throat. “I never thought I’d find one. Never dreamed that there was another in the entirety of time and space.” Here the man stopped and let out another hissing chuckle. His hood swayed as he shook his head. “And here I believed that there was only one left and not even I was foolish enough to go after him.”

“Who?” Steve asked, “Who are you talking about and what does he have to do with Tony?” There was a moment of silence before then man began to laugh outright. The sound was so much worse than his soft hissing chuckles that Steve cringed and took a step closer to Tony as the noise worked its way into his bones and made the hair on his arms stand on end. 

“Stop laughing and answer the damn question.” Tony snapped. It was easy to tell that Tony was getting nervous by the way his eyes kept darting towards the cod watch. 

Reaching out Steve wrapped his fingers around Tony’s in an attempt to help the smaller man calm down. The last thing either of them needed was for the man in front of them to see how much he was getting to Tony. It took a minute for the man’s laugher to die and when he was finish he began to fiddle with the silver watch again. Pale finger ran over the surface of the front cover as if what he was holding was something to be both feared and treasure.

“I speak of a man who has lived many lives and saved countless worlds. A man who come and goes as he pleases and lives by no law but those of space and time. He is both a warrior and a healer. He is the oncoming storm. He is the Doctor.” Steve blinked and his eyes darted over to Tony, who looked just as confused as he felt. 

“Doctor Who?” Tony asked and the man in front of them held out the watch in his hand in offering. 

“Open it and find out.”

\---

The air was filled with a thick black smoke the lay heavy in his lungs when he breathed in. Steve coughed and sputtered as he ran his short legs carrying him as fast as they could. The castle had come under attack and the guard that had killed the man in his room had told him to run and look for Tony and Jarvis. Jarvis would take them to safety and then he would take both him and Tony back to his home where they’d be safe. Steve yelped as he tripped over a forgotten spear and tumbled to the ground his knees and elbows taking the brunt of the fall. 

Steve stayed on his hands and knees for a moment stunned before a loud scream caused him to lurch to his feet and start running towards Tony’s room again. While Steve couldn’t be sure that the other boy would be there it was the only place he could think to look at that moment. If Tony had already ran then he’d try looking for him elsewhere but for now he had a good ways to run and not a lot of time to get there. 

So Steve did the only thing he could do. He ran for all he was worth hoping that he would find his friend before something bad happened to one of them. He was running so fast and not paying enough attention that when a slightly taller body darted out into the hallway in front of him he completely bowled them over. This time Steve hit the ground with a loud ‘oof’ as the air was knocked out of his lungs. He sat on the cold stone floor and coughed for what felt like forever before he realized that there was someone there with him. 

“Watch where you’re going runt.” Morgan Stark snarled as he climbed to his feet and dusted off his shirt. Steve winced and stuttered out an apology. Morgan was Tony’s cousin and was a year older than the two of them. He was also rotten to the core. It didn’t surprise him that none of the invaders seemed interested in the Stark heir’s cousin. 

“Have you see…” Steve started to ask only to stop speaking when Morgan made off down another corridor. Steve’s shoulder slumped. He’d been going to ask Morgan if he knew where Tony was but it was a lost cause now. All Steve could do was keep moving so he climbed to his feet and did just that. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any more falls for him on the way. Apparently luck was with him this time because Steve didn’t so much as stumble despite his blind run. 

A feeling of accomplishment filled Steve’s chest as the thick wooden door to Tony’s room came into sight. The palms of Steve’s hand smacked the wood of the door as he skidded to a stop and reached for the handle. Wrapping his fingers around the door Steve pushed it open with such force that he almost fell into the room. Wide blue eyes darted back and forth as he looked for Tony and fear worked its way around his heart when he didn’t see the other boy. 

“Tony.” Steve called his voice low. “Steve?” An even softer voice replied. The sound of Tony’s voice and the soft creak Tony’s wardrobe’s door caused a relieved smile to spread across Steve’s face. Tony was safe and now that they were together they could run and find Jarvis. His plan was doomed to fail however because just as Steve was about to take a step further into the room and go to his friend a strong had wrapped itself around his arm and jerked him back into a body covered in armor.

\---

“Hey, Dummy where’s Tony?” Steve asked the pale blue organoid as he walked into the main part of the repair bay. Dummy tilted his head in response and made an affectionate growling noise that emanated from deep within his mechanical throat before he began rubbing his head against Steve’s chest. Steve rolled his eyes up towards the ceiling but began to scratch the pale blue dinosaur like creature anyways. He was never sure how much of the physical affection Dummy, and his brother You, could feel but it seemed to make the pair of them happy so Steve indulged them whenever he could. 

Having received enough attention for that particular moment and time Dummy turned and started making his way across the repair bay his tail knocking into anything that came within reaching distance. A particularly loud crash made Steve wince. Thankfully the only thing that had been knocked over was a tool kit that had been left sitting on a chair. Five seconds later Dummy’s usual threat was yelled out from one of the holding units. 

“If you broke anything you’re being sent to a community college! They’ll take you apart and use you for scrap!” Not too long ago Steve would have believed that Tony would actually do it but he knew better now. Tony loved the failed organoids and the AI he’d created like they were his own kids. Tony just had a verbally abusive way of showing that love.

“Be nice Tony.” Steve called as he passed the holding unit that contained the still form of Tony’s Fire Phoenix. He could tell that the Zoid had just been repainted because the red and gold of its body and wings were reflecting the light from the ceiling when the last time he’d seen it the colors had been dull and faded. Tony himself was in the unit that held Steve’s own Zoid. 

His Konig Wolf had been overdue for repairs and the rest of the team had refused to let him go anywhere until his Zoid had been fixed. Steve smiled at the sight of his red, white, and blue wolf before his eyes landed on Tony’s grease and oil covered form and he smiled wider. Tony offered his own smile in return before pulling his goggles up onto his head and climbing down from his perch near one of the Konig Wolf’s joints. You chirped at him in greeting from where he was sitting beneath Steve’s Zoid. Steve offered the gunmetal grey organoid a wave before moving over to Tony. 

“How’s he looking?” Steve asked as he ran a hand over the plate of armor nearest to him.

“Pretty good considering he’s so old. Most Zoids I’ve seen that are past fifty have to be taken apart because they can’t be upgraded and their programing falls apart when new systems are installed. Your Wolf however just keeps going and going. I am impressed. He is impressive.” Tony told him with a grin. The mechanic wasn’t lying either Steve’s Konig Wolf had belonged to his father and before it had been given to him it had been his grandfathers. There were times that even Steve was amazed at how well the old Zoid ran. “He’s a survivor.” 

“I don’t doubt that. So what brings you down to my corner of the Whale King?” Tony asked as he stripped his gloves off his hands with his teeth. 

“Lunch.” Steve answered. “I know you haven’t eaten since dinner last night.” A pair of interested growls sounded from where Dummy and You were poking their noses into one of Tony’s tool kits. 

“No food for you.” Tony snapped at the pair his face stern. “Took me forever to get all that gunk out of your systems after Clint feed you guys taffy.” Steve coughed into his hand and prayed that it covered up the laugh he was trying to hide. The look Tony gave him informed him that his attempt failed.

“So are you going to feed me small delicacies from a silver platter?” Tony inquired as he slipped off his heavy work books and shot Steve an all too familiar look. Steve offered him a grin of his own. 

“No, but I’ll make you a sandwich and put it on a paper plate.” Tony’s surprised laugh echoed as they left the repair bay.

\---

“I feel like were in the middle of a videogame. Please tell me that there isn’t a Witch nearby waiting to tear us to pieces.” Tony panted as he bent over his knees. Steve huffed a short laugh before going back to trying to catch his own breath. It just figured that they’d end up separated from the other while on a supply run in a mall, a huge mall. Seriously, this place was like the biggest mall he’d ever laid eyes on and he’d grown up going to malls in New York. 

“Please tell me that we aren’t where I think we are?” Tony ordered as he checked his gun’s clip before pushing it back in. He was still breathing heavily but it wasn’t the sharp pained pants it had been and for that Steve was thankful. Steve blinked. 

“Why, where do you think we are?” Steve could tell the moment he asked the question that he wasn’t going to like the answer. “We Steven are in the Mall of America or at least what’s left of it. This is the second biggest mall in the United States of Zombieland.” Steve snorted at the overused joke but found that he had to ask the stupid question. Call it his random fact for the day. 

“What’s bigger than this one?”

“I have no fucking idea. Ask Pepper when we find her she probably knows.” Tony admitted with a shrug. Pepper probably did know because Pepper knew everything. It was slightly creepy because sometimes Pepper knew things before anyone else did. There was silence between them for the next few minutes as breathing slowed and evened out. It was of course Tony who spoke first. 

“So, what the fuck do we do know? I don’t see any zombies but that doesn’t mean squat. Do we keep gathering supplies and risk it or should we go and find the others and risk getting seen and attacked while doing that because the chances of us being chased by zombies for a second time today are astronomically -” Tony’s sentence was cut off by Steve planning his hand over the man’s mouth. Brown eyes met blue for a moment before Tony nodded in understanding. 

The genius remained quiet when Steve moved his hand away and began to reach for the gun at his side. The sound of several softly scrapping feet filled Steve’s ears as the small pack of zombies shuffled by their hiding place. When the group had passed by without incident both men let out a soft sigh of relief. 

“Well that was fun.” Tony muttered under his breath before reaching up to run a hand through his greasy hair. The look on the other man’s face of course said that it had been anything but. “I think it’d be best if we just went and found the others. This place is huge so we’ll be able to gather supplies for as long as we need to as long as were careful. 

“Let’s get this show on the road then Cap.” Tony said as he turned towards Steve. “I want to find the others before things go FUBAR.” Steve shook his head in mock despair but smiled at Tony’s way of phrasings the situation they found themselves in far too often for his liking. Tony had a way with words that tended to leave Steve blushing. A sudden shift in Tony’s stance had Steve’s attention in less time than it took for his heart to beat. Steve had only a moment to wonder why Tony was reaching for his gun before a sharp pain ripped through his arm and the sound of live fire tore through his ears.

\---

The Malibu sun was warm on his face and the breeze smelled of the sea. It was nice to escape the cold that had gripped New York since fall. So instead of fighting the urge to hide from the cold like a coward he was laying in the sun by the pool in a chair he was pretty sure he could sleep in if he really wanted to. Steve yawned and grinned when the action was mimicked by Matilda. The wolf’s fangs glinted in the bright sunlight as her tongue hung out of the side of her mouth. It wasn’t hot enough for the white wolf to be panting and Steve knew that she wasn’t hot at all but happy. 

“You look like a dog Tilly.” Steve snorted and turned so that his gaze fell upon the third member of their group. Makeda was stretched out across the lounge chair that Tony had abandoned when he’d gone inside the mansion so he could yell at his engineers without disturbing the comfortable silence that had fallen over them. If Matilda was managing to look like a dog then Makeda was playing the part of house cat to a tee. It was actually a little disturbing considering that Makeda was a very large black panther. 

“I reserve the right to bite you if you call me bitch.” Matilda growled though there was little to no heat to the words themselves. Steve knew that neither daemon was against rolling around on the floor if it came down to it. They could be quite silly when given the chance. To be fair though they were just as willing to tear into each other as he and Tony were when they got going. Not that any of them really liked it when they fought. 

“Well if it makes you feel any better you’re both doing great impressions of house pets at the moment.” Steve said, adding his two cents in. Two pairs of bright yellow eyes turned Steve’s way one pair amused and another fondly annoyed. 

“What did I miss?” Tony asked as he stepped back out onto the sunlit deck. Sitting up in his chair Steve opened his mouth to answer only to be cut off before he could get the first syllable out of his mouth. 

“Steve’s been insulting us with language that isn’t fit for even the dirtiest of minds to hear.” There was a moment of silence before Tony snorted. 

“Steve still blushes when he hears the word hickey shouted across the room.” Tony turned his eyes to his daemon and smiled. 

“You can’t bullshit me Keda.” Makeda tilted her head and offered her human her own version of a smile. 

“Why not? You believe your own bullshit all the time?” Steve almost chocked on the laugh he tried and failed to hold back. Matilda wasn’t even trying to hide her soft snickering. Steve and Matilda grinned at each other before Matilda rolled her eyes and got to her feet. Her claws clicked against the stone deck as she moved over to where Makeda was lounging. 

“I think you’re both full of it.” She said as she jumped up onto the lounger and lay down next to the grinning cat. 

Steve’s fingers itched for his sketch book at that exact moment. Every time he saw the two demons lying together he had the urge to draw them. Steve didn’t know if it was the difference in their fur color or the difference in what they were supposed to mean but there was just something about the two daemons lying together that made his inner artist sit up and pay attention. Clint had cracked jokes about him and Tony fighting like cats and dogs but it had been Bruce that had pointed out the whole opposites attract thing. That was true as well. He and Tony were a living example of opposites attracting. 

They were the past and the future, life and death, the body and the mind and so much more. Steve could go on and on forever about what made him and Tony different from each other and none of what he said would be more apparent than the daemons lying curled up next to each other in the sun. Calloused fingers running along the back of his neck drew Steve from his thoughts and back into the world around him. Steve smiled as Tony wrapped his arms around his chest from behind. The man’s goatee scratched at the skin of Steve’s neck but his lips were soft where they touched Steve’s ear. 

“I think they have the right idea.” Steve smiled. 

“I think you’re right.”

\---

Steve grunted as he pushed at the door in front of him. The black suits chasing them had been close enough behind them that he hadn’t been able to plant his feet before he’d braced himself against the door they were pounding on. If he’d had the chance to take that one little action then nothing on Heaven or Earth would have been able to move him. “Any time now, Tony!” Steve called over his shoulder, his voice strained.

“Working on it!” Tony called back before he began digging through the junk that was scattered around the room. Steve shook his head and turned his attention back on the door while Tony cussed behind him. If the other mutant could just find what he needed then they might be able to get out of the building in one piece. With the way things were going at that second however it didn’t look like they were going to be that lucky. 

“Find anything?” Steve called as the door behind him shook with the force of impact of an adult body. Tony’s head jerked around so that he was looking at Steve.

“Not a damn thing.” Tony growled in frustration as he made his way back over to Steve. 

“Are you sure?” Steve asked as he let his eyes roam around the room. There was a lot of old junk littering the floor but Steve didn’t know if it would be useful to the forge or not. 

“There’s nothing here that I can use to help us escape. At least nothing that wouldn’t be a weapon.” Tony said as he pushed his back against the door so that Steve was able to move away and reposition himself. Turning so that he could place his back against the door as well Steve planted his feet and nodded. 

“We’re good for now.” Steve said. Nothing short of the door being torn off of its hinges, or the black suits finding another way in, would be able to move Steve now that he had planted his feet and didn’t plan on moving. Tony nodded and sat down on the floor his head hanging low. 

“Sorry.” Steve blinked a look of confusion taking over his features. “Whatever for?” he asked. 

“If I wasn’t so against making weapons we could just fight them off and be on our way. We wouldn’t have to hide like this.” Steve winced and shook his head even though he knew that Tony wouldn’t see the movement. “There’s nothing wrong with keeping a promise. You told yourself that you wouldn’t make weapons anymore after what you father made you do. If that means we had to run from guys that want to make us disappear like we were never born then so be it.” Because that what the people chasing them did. 

That’s what they had done to Bruce when they had caught the quiet healer and what they would do to him and Tony if they had the chance. “Fat lot of good my promise is going to do us if it gets us killed.” Tony said his voice bitter. Steve sighed and scrubbed his hands across his face before pushing the heels of his palms into his eyes. The pressure didn’t help the situation any but it gave him time to think. 

“We’ll figure this out Tony. You’re a genius remember you always figure a way out.” Tony looked up at Steve’s words and smiled a small sad smile that made Steve hurt for his friend. Tony opened his mouth to say something back before closing it and shaking his head. 

“I’m gonna take another look. Maybe I can make some sort of flash bang or a smokescreen or something. I’d need a bottle and some sort of chemicals for those though. Maybe I could…” Tony rambled as he climbed to his feet and began moving. 

Steve smiled and shook his head as Tony began digging through the junk scattered around the room again. So while Tony worked Steve stayed leaning against the door. While the men that had been chasing them weren’t trying to knock it down anymore Steve could still hear them talking to each other. If they were trying to work out some sort of plan then they were out of luck because no one could make a better plan than him and Tony when they worked together.

\---

The slant of his father’s lips was enough to tell him that the man was mad though he didn’t know what exactly his father was mad about. He’d been good the entire time that they’d had company. He’d been quiet and only spoken when someone asked him a question and he’d even eaten the food that had been served without making any funny faces.

Tough that had more to do with Jarvis’ promise of ice cream after everyone was gone than him actually liking what had been served for dinner. But he’d been called into the study for a reason and judging by the look on his father’s face it wasn’t a good one. 

“Do you know what you did?” his father asked words slurring slightly. He winced because he knew that he hadn’t done anything but when his dad was drinking like this it didn’t matter. When his dad drunk like this he looked for reasons to be mad and any reason worked fine for him. 

“No.” 

“No, what?” his father growled. 

“No, sir.” His father snorted into his drink.

“Of course you don’t know what you did. You never know and I stuck telling you! Are you so stupid that you can’t figure it out yourself?” He cringed and drew back a step as his father’s voice got louder and turned his eyes to his feet. It wouldn’t take long for him to start yelling and then things would get really ugly and he knew better than to look his father in the eye when it got to that point.

“Damn it Anthony! Look at me when I’m talking to you!” He cringed and looked up physically fighting against the urge to look away because that could be a trigger too. What was worse however was what happened when someone managed to pull it. And he knew then and there that he’d done something to pull that trigger and was about to get the bullet.

\---

“Go, go go go go.” Steve chanted quietly under his breath as he watched the District 3 tribute run across the large screen in front of him. The dark haired boy was bleeding from several long gashes that had been torn into his skin by a whip wielding tribute from District 5. Steve winced as the boy’s foot caught on a brick half embedded in the ground and he slammed down onto the cold stone that had been beneath his feet. 

It was easy to tell that he’d been winded badly by the fall but sadly there wouldn’t be any time for him to recuperate because the large gargoyle like mutt that he’d been running from was coming for him. Steve let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding when the boy, Tony Stark, stumbled to his feet and began moving again. He was moving slower now and limping badly but he was moving and that was all that mattered.

“Please let him get away.” Steve prayed under his breath as he watched Tony make a dive for one of the wind scored buildings. 

With some luck it would give him some much needed time to recuperate and a chance to think of a plan. It was a chance that the two tributes from his District had managed to receive. Though to be fair the tributes that he’d mentored hadn’t had much of a chance even after the training they’d received before the games had begun. They’d been too young and unskilled in everything other than sewing and sorting to have much of a chance. 

He’d tried his best to help them prepare and failed and while that guilt would eat away at him for the rest of his life there was nothing he could do for them anymore. Not that there was anything he could do for the boy from three but Steve hoped against all hope that it was him that won and not any of the others that remained. Vanko from 5 was cruel and enjoyed the killing far too much. The Hammer boy from District 2 shouldn’t have made it past the first day but the little schemer had managed to form alliances (that he’d betrayed) until there wasn’t anyone left to form a team with. It was the last boy however that really worried Steve. 

Aldrich Killian, from six, seemed to have it stuck in his mind that he was going to the one to kill Tony Stark. Steve didn’t know what Tony had done to make the blonde boy target him but it seemed like nothing was going to stop him. Killian had even gone so far as to kill the girl from his district just because she’d suggested that they go after someone other than Stark. It had been good advice considering that Stark seemed to have no problem making bombs from nothing. 

So Steve was going to root for the smart mouthed but charming boy from three because unlike the others Stark had shed tears over the body of his first victim. Panem needed more victors that mourned the lives they were forced to take, not mare that enjoyed the killing. So Steve watched as Stark went to work making another bomb from junk and prayed that he won this year’s game. He told himself that the fluttering feeling in his stomach was only nerves and not the faintest of desires to run his finger though dark hair or to kiss pale lips. There was no place for love when you were a tribute after all.

\---

Steve sighed and rubbed at the numbers on his left wrist. The mere fact that they were still there even after his seventy years in the ice was a comfort that Steve had been certain would be denied to him. He had dared to look after he had first woken up afraid that he’d find the numbers gone or dull and faded but they weren’t. They were still the same bright red they had always been and that more than anything made him both happy and sad. It meant that Steve’s soul mate was still alive and well wherever they were but it also meant that they were still waiting for him and it was possible that they had been waiting for a long time. 

Or so Steve assumed. It was entirely possible that whomever his soul mate was had gotten tired of waiting and moved on. They could have found someone else with the same numbers as him or fallen for someone with numbers that were completely different. It wasn’t uncommon for people to give up on finding their mate. Steve himself had been willing to give up the search in order to stay with Peggy and the only thing that had stopped him had been his seventy years in the ice. Steve knew of course that in time he’d go looking. 

One of the agents that had shown him to his apartment had told him that there had been great advances in finding soul mates over the last seventy years and while not everyone found their perfect match most of them were quite happy with their lives. He turned down the man’s offer of help however. He hadn’t been ready to look then and while things weren’t as bad as they had been when he’d first woken up Steve knew that it would be sometime before he actually started looking. He was still trying to adjust to the new world that he’d found himself in and the last thing he wanted to do was put pressure on his soul mate. The least Steve could do was learn as much as he could on his own before he burdened someone else with all his problems. 

The inverted 12 of his mate’s numbers made it clear that they would be willing to sacrifice something if they had too and Steve didn’t want that sacrifice to be because of him. Steve wasn’t quite sure what to make of the inverted four that sat next to the twelve. Oh, he knew what it meant well enough. He’d looked up the meanings to both his numbers and his mate’s numbers the first chance he had gotten. It was just one of those things that made his head spin. 

Whomever his soul mate was it was clear that they were trying (or had tried) to change themselves for the better and Steve worried about that an awful lot too. Shaking his head so that he could break his ever circling thoughts Steve turned his attention back towards the tablet that sat on his knee. He’d only meant to give his eyes a bit of a rest not get lost in his head. His soul mate had waited for him for a long time and Steve was sure that they wouldn’t mind waiting a little longer for him to adjust to everything life had thrown his way. 

“Trouble sleeping?” Tony asked as he wandered into the kitchen. His cloths were oil stained and he had an empty coffee cup in his hand. Neither of those things were surprising nor was the fact that he’d come up from his workshop in order to get more of his preferred beverage. Tony had been making repairs on the armor for the past several hours and he wouldn’t stop to rest until the fixes were made. Steve had stopped trying to get Tony to stop not long after moving into the tower.

“No, I was just reading and lost track of time.” Steve admitted. Not that Steve was really all that tired. The day had been a quiet one and other than his usual routine there hadn’t been anything to do that would have worn him out enough for him to need to go to bed early. 

“History or pleasure?” Tony asked as he lingered by the coffee pot. The machine was just beginning to gurgle to life. 

“History.” Steve answered. He was far too used to Tony’s prying to be bothered by it anymore. Not that Tony meant to pry (though he could if he wanted or felt he needed to) it was simply that Tony had a built in need to know. Questions (and rude remarks) were how Tony learned and how he found a person’s boundaries. 

“What year are you to?” Tony asked as he left the area near the coffee pot and walked over so that he was standing closer to where Steve was sitting. Steve had just opened his mouth to answer when he caught sight of a flash of red on Tony’s wrist. It was one of Tony’s numbers and from where he was sitting it looked like the number was an inverted four.

\----

Steve cringed as the Hydra agent’s body hit the wall with a sickening thud. There was a moment of utter stillness before the man hit the floor and didn’t move again. Swallowing down the guilt that his actions had brought Steve turned and ran down the hallway that would lead him to the labs and the person he would find there. To Steve’s surprise the way to his destination was clear of any other Hydra members and even though he was surprised at the lack of security that didn’t mean he wasn’t weary. There was always a chance that he was being watched by someone who simply wasn’t taking any action against him. He’d take what he could get however. 

“Never look the gift hose in the mouth,” had been something his father had been fond of saying and there was no way in Hell that Steve was going to take a look at the teeth of his current horse. Steve run slowed as he neared the clear glass doors that would let him into the lab. The room was dark on the other side with only a few lit screens to break the black. Steve knew however that the room wasn’t empty even though it appeared to be. 

Taking a deep breath Steve focused on the locked door and pushed against the red lighted lock with his mind. There was a single sharp pop before the red light went out entirely and Steve pushed the door open. The lab was cold and Steve shivered when the air touched his skin. The room’s temperature didn’t stop him from moving deeper into the lab however. It was creepy being in the labs when he wasn’t strapped down to a table and being drugged out of his mind and some small fearful part of Steve was thankful that it wasn’t him strapped to a table now. 

A larger and more dominant part however was enraged and fearful for the person he knew was somewhere in the large cold room lit only by monitor lights. “Tony?” Steve called out hoping that the other man would be able to hear him and reply. When the reply came Steve almost didn’t hear it over the other sounds that filled the room with soft noise. Steve winced at the sound of Tony’s voice as he moved towards the source. 

The sight that greeted him however had his hands fisting at his sides and his stomach churning with a type of blind rage that he’d only ever felt a handful of times. The usually golden skinned man was grey and shaking where he lay on the table. Brown eyes were the type of wide that told Steve that Tony was only half in the present and Steve had to wonder if Tony had heard his voice or seen him coming. 

“Jesus.” Steve said as he moved over to the side of the table Tony was laying on and began to undo the straps that were holding him to the table. Once Tony’s hands and feet were free Steve moved to pull the IV out of his arm. Tony hissed as the needle slid out of his skin. Tony blinked brown eyes almost completely dilated. 

“We gonna leave now?” Tony asked his voice slurring like he’d been drinking. Steve nodded his head and moved to help Tony up off of the table. 

“Yah, we’re leaving. The other will meet us by the elevator.” Steve said as he set Tony on his feet. The other man swayed and his knees shook but he managed to keep from falling. It helped that Steve had wrapped one o

f his hands around Tony arm in a grip that made it clear he wasn’t going to let go any time soon. “Good. I want out of here before we get company. I need a drink so bad it isn’t funny.” Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head as the pair began moving towards the busted door. 

“Let me know when we’re clear and once we’re out of here I’ll see about getting you that drink.” 

“I am holding you to that promise.”

\---

The nurse had told him that his parents would be there to get him the next morning. That had been a day ago and with every second that ticked by the doubt that had been planted firmly in his mind grew bigger and bigger. He knew that both of his parents were busy people but even they made half an attempt to see him when he was in the hospital. And if something kept them and they couldn’t come Jarvis always did even if he couldn’t stay for long. But this was different because someone was supposed to have come and gotten him already but no one had. Not even Jarvis had shown up yet and Tony had heard the police officer tell the doctor that he’d been in contact with his parents. 

His mother and father knew that he was in the hospital and yet no one had come. He wondered if they would kick him out if no one came for him soon or if he’d just stay in the hospital until someone realized that he wasn’t at home. He sniffed and rubbed at his eyes with his good arm. The nurse that had come into his room earlier had given his a sad look when he’d asked about leaving. She’d never answered his question. It was like she thought that if she ignored it his question would go away and he’d forget about it. 

The nurse had no idea how wrong she was because he intended to ask the next nurse that came in to check on him as well. And he was going to keep asking until someone answered. He didn’t want to stay at the hospital for another night and with every second that passed doing just that came closer and closer to happening. Being left at the hospital wouldn’t have been so bad if he’d had something to do while he was here but there was nothing. 

Anything the nurses offered him wouldn’t hold his attention very long. He’d have been happy to read if they had any books that were more difficult. But they didn’t so there wasn’t really anything for him to do but sit and think. Noting to do but sit and think about how everyone had gone and forgotten him.

\---

“You smell like car exhaust.” Steve informed Tony as he kissed the other teens cheek. Tony snorted. 

“You would too if you’d had to spend two hours with the idiots that were in that shop. I swear Steve they were trying to play Mythbusters and see if they could kill us all with the fumes. I don’t even know how they managed it…” Steve simply smiled and nodded as he listened to the younger man rant and rave about the other people in his mechanics class. It was better to let the brunette get it all out now instead of waiting until later. Waiting always led to Tony pouting for hours about Steve being ‘mean’ and not caring about how his day went. 

Plus it helped Tony to rant about thing or else he’d bottle it all up inside until he and everyone around him were completely miserable. It was better for Tony to let him get it all out even if it was something as silly as morons in his mechanics class. After several minutes of nonstop babble there was a moment of silence while Tony took a deep breath of the warm spring air.

“How was your day?” Tony asked as he slid his dirty fingers in between Steve’s clean ones and held on tight. Steve smiled. “Not too bad. We started World War II in History today and I still have some work to do on my project for art but other than that things are going swell.” 

Tony snorted at the word swell before bumping his shoulder into Steve’s. It was a small sign of affection that didn’t really have an origin but Steve appreciated it none the less. Tony didn’t do emotions well and anything the other was willing to give him Steve was willing to take. “Are we still meeting the others at the dinner for lunch?” Tony asked.

“Yes. They’ll be there though Tasha might be late. Her recital is coming up in a few weeks and she wants to be prepared for it.” Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“She could be missing a leg and two toes and she’d still be the best dancer there.” Steve laughed and shook his head. The things that came out of Tony’s mouth sometimes. 

“I’d tell you to tell here that but she’d just roll her eyes and mutter at you in Russian.” Tony grinned.

“You do realize that more or less everything she says when she does that is an insult right? Or at least it is for most of us. With you she just mutters endearments and the occasional idiot.” Steve huffed at the thought. It sounded like something that Natasha would do. It wasn’t easy being one of the only females with any sense in their group. 

Pepper was more than helpful but Jane couldn’t be counted on for too long because she was just as scatter brained as Tony when she was doing something science related. “If you and Clint would act your age maybe you’d get something more than insults and death threats.” Steve advised. Not that it would do any good of course because Tony and Clint were overgrown children when they were together. Tony nudged him again and grinned. 

“You wouldn’t have me any other way.” No. Steve knew that he would because he loved Tony just the way he was. Even when he smelled like car exhaust and was acting his shoe size instead of his age.

\---

“I think it suits you.” Steve said as he ran his finders over the ruby red crescent moon that sat in the middle of Tony’s forehead. “It looks a lot better than the blue mark ever did. Plus you were always saying that red was your color.” Tony snorted softly and shook his head. “No, just means I’m a freak among freaks.” Tony said as he tried to turn his head away and hide his face in Steve’s lap. Steve wasn’t going to let him though. He was tired of watching Tony try to hide from him. 

He’d understood the other fledglings need to hide away at first, it wasn’t every day that you died and then undied, but it had been almost a month and Tony was still trying to hide himself away. Leaning down Steve placed a soft kiss on Tony’s forehead and offered him the most sincere smile he had to offer. 

“The red mark doesn’t make you a freak it makes you special. Why else would you come back if it weren’t for something good?” Tony frowned for a moment before opening his mouth to answer.

“If you’re about to make some sort of joke or self-discriminating remark I don’t want to hear it.” Tony closed his mouth his teeth clicking together. Steve’s sincere smile faltered and turned into something sad as he started running his fingers through Tony’s hair. 

“What’s wrong, love? Will you tell me this time or are you just going to lock me out again?” Brown eyes darted up towards Steve’s for a moment before Tony began to chew at his lower lip and fiddle with the sleeve of his shirt. There were a few seconds of silence before the brunette sighed and pushed himself up so that he and Steve would be close to eye level. 

“I’ve told you about the day I changed and what my dad did. Do you know why?” Steve cringed and fought the urge to clinch his hands into fists. What Tony’s father had done still left him feeling sick even now when he’d had months to get over it. 

“He did it because you were marked right? He didn’t like that you were going to become a vampire.” That was the theory amongst their group of friends that had made the most sense though none of them, not even Bruce, knew the real reason. It looked like he was about to find out however.

“That’s what everyone who knows about what happened thinks.” Tony admitted. “It’s only partially true. Me being marked pissed my old man off enough for him to smack me around but that is why he did it. He locked me in his lab and left because he was convinced that I wouldn’t make the change.” Tony paused and took a deep shuttering breath. He was shaking now just like he had been when he’d told Steve the about his father the first time. 

“Only the strong survive the change Anthony and while I’ll admit you have wit you aren’t strong. There’s no iron in your bones.” Tony said in an almost perfect imitation of his father’s voice the only difference was the shake that had started halfway through. Reaching out Steve took hold of Tony’s shirt and pulled him forward into a hug. 

While he knew that there had been more harsh words he didn’t bother asking. He’d learn in time and all that mattered at that moment was Tony. “He’s the one who’s weak Tony. He tore you down because you were so much stronger than him. You were so strong that not even death could keep you from living.”

\---

He could hear his father stumbling down the hall outside of him room screaming at the top of his lungs for both him and his mother to come out and face him. To stop being fucking cowards and stop hiding. He knew quite well that if he did however that the only thing that would happen would be him getting a beating. He knew better than to leave his hiding places when his father was like this. When the Whiskey flowed in a never ending stream straight from a bottle and into Howard’s mouth. 

He’d have been worried for his mother however if she had actually been home. Not that she often was anymore. She was off doing something for charity and when she was finished she’d find something else that needed doing as far away from the house and his father as possible. Sometimes he wished that she’d take him with her. He didn’t care where they went so long was it was away. 

He didn’t like being at home over the summer. When he was home he was a target and the last thing he wanted to be was a target for his old man’s rage. He was already a target at school because he was smaller and smarter than all the other students. There was no avoiding his father though not when he was like this. Not when Howard was determined to hurt whatever he could get his hands on. And though it left him feeling like a coward he knew that all he could do was hide.

\---

The earth was cool and soft beneath the pads of his large paws. The air smelled of the rain that had fallen earlier that day. It was a clean smell that didn’t exist in the city and some small part of Steve missed the clean smell of country air whenever he was in New York. Not that he’d ever be able to bring himself to move. He loved his city and he was even beginning to love the big ugly building he called home. Steve yawned his maw opening wide to reveal long sharp fangs before he tumbled to the ground and buried his nose in the leaves that lay there. He was content to just lay there and enjoy the smells for the time being. He had nowhere to be and nothing to do other than prowl through the woods. 

It was tempting to simply lay there until he had to move. No one would bother him because no one would dare come near him while he was a lion. Even Bucky had been nervous when he’d seen Steve’s animal form for the first time and they’d known each other for years. The soft rustle of bushes caused Steve’s ears to twitch. Blinking open great golden eyes Steve turned his head in the direction the noise was coming from and waited. It wouldn’t be odd for another shifter to be in the area. 

The park he was in was meant to be a safe place for people like him to change in after all and there were strict laws against hunting in a shifter park. He needn’t have worried however because a few moments after he’d first heard the sound a small mouse ran out from the bushes a large black furred fox chasing after it. Upon seeing Steve however the fox stopped and tilted its head to the side. Steve could almost smell the curiosity rolling off of the smaller animal. The fox moved towards him a few steps and began sniffing. Steve lay still and let the smaller animal sniff to its content. 

It was only polite to let the smaller animal decide if he was safe or not. When the fox had had its fill it sat down curling its white tipped tail around its feet, tilted its head to the side, and offered him a grin. Steve squinted at the animal in front of him because there was something eerily familiar about that grin. Steve felt his jaw drop when he realized that he did in fact know that grin because he lived in the building that belonged to the man that owned that grin. The fox before him made a noise that would have been laughter had he been human. 

“Tony?” Steve asked as he climbed to his feet. 

“Hey there Capsicle. How’s it shaking?” That was defiantly Tony’s voice filling his head.

“I didn’t know you were a shape shifter.” Steve said sounding both slightly amazed and majorly confused. Tony grinned at him before climbing to his feet and coming closer. 

“Not many people do. It was safer for me to hide my status. God forbid someone try to snatch me while I was out wandering.” Brown eyes rolled up towards the heavens before Tony shook his head. 

“Would someone really try?” Steve asked. He knew that people could be greedy and go to great lengths to get what they wanted but it seemed like too much trouble to try and snatch a shifter when they were in their animal forms. 

“Why not? I’m a lot smaller in this form and all it would take would be a bunch of dogs or a gun to down me.” Steve winced and growled at the thought. He’d heard once that hunting shifter had been popular a long time ago but to think that people would do it now rubbed him the wrong way. Not that it was really unexpected of course. There would always be people who broke laws and hurt others but that didn’t stop Steve from hating them.

“So what are you doing here? If you don’t mind my asking.” Steve inquired trying his best to be polite. The last thing he wanted was to come across as rude and end up fighting with the billionaire again. Tony grinned. “Enjoying being able to shift again.” Tony said his voice completely honest and open.

\--- 

Gone. Jarvis was gone and never coming back and no one had cared enough to tell him that the one person who actually cared for him had passed away. He’d simply come home to an almost empty house with no Jarvis to great him like the man had every time he’d come home from boarding school. It had been one of the maids that had told him that Jarvis had passed in his sleep one night due to complications. The woman had been useless when he tried to gather more information on what exactly it was that had caused the man to pass.

She hadn’t known anything other than what she had told him and neither had any of the other members of staff. Now he was sitting in his room with his face hidden in his pillow to hide the tears leaving tracks down his face. His father had told him more than once that connections that weren’t for business were more often than not more trouble than they were worth. Right now was one of the few times that he might just agree with his old man. 

If the pain that he was feeling now was what loving other people did to you once they were gone he wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to feel it again. Not that he really felt anything like he’d felt for Jarvis for anyone else not even his parents and he wasn’t sure if that was right or not. He did love his parents he supposed but it was nothing like what he had felt for the family butler. To be fair however no one had ever treated him like Jarvis had either. Jarvis had treated him like he was a person.

Had treated him like more than just his mind mattered and it was always Jarvis that had tried to help him when something was wrong. Jarvis had helped keep him sane when everyone looked at him like he was crazy. The most important thing though was that unlike everyone else Jarvis had loved him and he hadn’t even been able to say good bye.

\---

Steve twitched as cool fingers traced lines onto his skin with black ink. The feeling of the ink itself wasn’t really a problem for him but it was cold and the feeling of rough fingers tracing lines and symbols onto his skin didn’t help either. 

“Is this really necessary?” Steve asked as he fought back the urge to twitch. He couldn’t however because if he messed up the transmutation circle that Tony was drawing on his back they’d have to start over again. 

“Yes, now don’t move. I’m almost finished.” Steve sighed but held still as the alchemist worked. 

“I hate this.” Steve said after a few more minutes of silence. There was a brief moment where Tony’s fingers stilled before he began working again. 

“I know Cap. But it has to be done and if it wasn’t me then it’d be some other alchemist doing this every few months.” Steve’s lips twitched slightly. He knew better than to believe that Tony would let any other alchemist touch him when it came time to recharge the work that had turned him into a supersoldier.

The dark haired man had thrown a fit when Steve had gone to Bruce for his recharge when Tony had been sick and laid up in the hospital. Tony had felt bad about yelling at the other alchemist later of course but it had taken him a few days to stop pouting in his lab and apologize. Bruce had understood of course because he understood that Tony had been scared for both of them. 

All it would take was one wrong symbol or a little too much energy and both he and the alchemist helping him could be caught in the middle of a rebound. That was something that Steve never wanted to see again. The rebound that had killed Doctor Erskine and turned Steve into a supersoldier was bad enough. The thought of Tony being caught in a backlash like the kind hearted man who had given him a chance had been made him sick to his stomach. 

“Steve? Are you with me Steve? Do I need to prance around the workshop naked to get your attention?” Steve snorted and shook his head. He could already feel a fine blush creeping over his cheeks and up to his ears. He hadn’t meant to get lost in his own head but seeing how it happened every time he was due for a recharge he let it pass. 

“Sorry. I just I drifted there for a moment.” Steve apologized. Tony made a small ‘eh’ noise as he moved around the circle so that he was standing in front of Steve. The genus was well known for doing the same thing when he was bored or had a lot on his mind so it probably wasn’t a big deal for him. Most people who knew Tony tended to tune him out whenever he started talking. 

“Are you ready?” Tony asked as he stretched his arms out above his head, fingers stretching up towards the ceiling as if he could touch the panels. The light from above caught on the auto-mail that made up his right arm making the metal glint a dull red. 

They’d need to clean and oil Tony’s arm soon. “I’m ready.” Steve said as he stood tall. Tony nodded his head and bent down towards the array on the ground. There was a moment of silence before Tony clapped his hands together and touched the circle in front of him. There was a split second of silence before the world around Steve began to crackle with golden energy.

\---

Obie’s hand was heavy on his shoulder as he watched dirt be shoveled into his parent’s graves. The funeral was over but he couldn’t leave until his job of playing the grieving son was done and over with. And so long as there were still people watching his job wouldn’t be over with. The problem was however was that he didn’t really feel anything at all about his the death of his parents. There was no anger or sorrow instead he just felt numb inside. Numb and slightly disappointed that it wasn’t raining because if it was raining then people wouldn’t be able to see that he hadn’t shed a single tear throughout the entire funeral and that just wouldn’t do when you were Howard and Maria Stark’s dear child. 

He had to wonder if his lack of tears made him some kind of monster. Wondered what the papers would say if they knew that the perfect family they liked to portray the Starks as (at least when they were all together) was a lie. But most of all Tony wished he could go back to his loft where Dummy was waiting for him because unlike his parents at least Dummy would be happy to see him. 

Dummy wouldn’t care that he hadn’t she a tear over the death of his parents. But most of all he wanted to go home because Dummy wanted him there because Dummy was the closest thing to family he had now other than Obie and Obie had better things to do than babysit him while he tried and failed to drink away an emotion that wasn’t even there. His father had always told him that emotions were a weakness but he wasn’t so sure of that. He’d seen what happened when you cared about people and what happened when you didn’t. So he knew that he wasn’t emotionless but he was very good at making others think he was.

\---

The rooms attached to the rockery are always hot and while it’s wonderful in the winter when everywhere else if freezing it was horrible in the summer even with air conditioning. Steve was never more grateful for the heat however than when he wakes up from one of his dreams about the ice. Steve sighed and rolled over his hand already reaching for Tony even though he knows that the other man isn’t there. He could just barely make out the sounds of a hammer through the thick stone walls. Tony had been working almost nonstop for the past week and while Steve understood that if it wasn’t done now while his lover still had the chance to do it that didn’t mean that Steve liked it. Tony would be tired enough over the next couple of months what with the dragon eggs being ready to hatch at any time. 

So it was with a sigh that Steve rolled out of bed his feet hitting the warm floor as he stood and stretched the kinks out of his back. A quick shower later and he was making his way out of the rooms he shared with Tony and out into the broiling heat of the rockery. The sound of Tony hammering had fallen silent for them moment and the man was nowhere to be seen. 

“Are you out of metal?” Steve asked, raising his voice so that he could be heard in one of the chambers that branched out from the main room. 

“No, but it won’t be long until I need more brass and copper.” Tony replied as he stepped back into the room. A large box was tucked under his arm. 

“Why do hatchings have to eat refined metal for their first month? I swear last time that this happened little red monster tried to eat my tools.” Tony griped. Steve ignored Tony’s question however as he wrapped his arms around the other man and kissed his sweaty neck because he knew that it was rhetorical. Tony knew very well why baby dragons lived on a diet of meat and pure refined metal for their first month of life. As for Tony’s tools, well if he recalled correctly the little red dragon that had tried to eat them had been one of Tony’s favorite hatchlings that season. 

“How much more do you think you’ll need?” Steve asked as he rubbed his nose against the damp skin beneath it. Tony shivered and pushed backwards at the contact. “I have no idea. It depends on how many of them will eat it.” That was true as well. Some hatchlings were pickier than others when it came to the metal they ate. 

“Finish using what you have and I’ll let Coulson know you’re going to need more.” It was better that way easier if Steve dealt with the people and Tony dealt with the dragons because twenty years of semi isolation had left Tony socially awkward to an almost painful extent. Not that anyone who didn’t know Tony extremely well could tell by watching the man work a crowd.

“Don’t you have drills to run and riders to train?” Tony asked as he pulled away slightly. Steve huffed and smiled at the other man’s actions. About the only time Tony wasn’t willing to be a flirt and a tease was when he was getting ready for new hatchlings. 

He’d be back to normal before long though so Steve didn’t worry, at least not anymore. The sudden shift in personality had startled and worried him the first time it had happened but Rhodey had explained and now he knew that there was nothing to worry about. Tony would be back to his usual self in time and for now Steve would enjoy getting to see the responsible side of the man he loved. 

\---

Tony looked down into the bottle and laughed. Laughed until tears ran down his face because laughing was better than crying. Crying was a weakness. Crying was something that Starks didn’t do because Starks were made of iron. He didn’t feel like iron. No, he felt like his heart was breaking because for a short but blissful period of time he’d been happy and he’d had someone and he’d loved her with all his heart. Then he’d walked in on her sleeping with a man he’d truly thought was his friend. He’d forgotten. Forgotten that no one ever really seemed to want him for long. And he’d been foolish enough to think that Rumiko would be different and that she loved him just as much as he loved her.

But she hadn’t and he’d found out in the worst way possible. There was one upside and one upside only to this situation. At least he’d found out before he’d gotten the ring. Before he’d married the woman who’d broken his heart into a million pieces. Now he was going to sit in his workshop and drink until it didn’t hurt so much because he was a Stark and they drowned their sorrow in booze instead of crying about them.

But he’d been wrong and the universe had been sure to show him how wrong he’d been in the worst possible way. Maybe the universe thought he needed to be reminded that he’d always be alone. That he’d never have someone who truly tried to understand him and all his oddities. Someone who’d love him for just being him and not for what he could make or buy them. 

Not that he’d ever find someone who loved him for him because even his best friend could only stand so much of him before he needed to get away for a while. To make matter even worse the papers had spun the entire story around on its head so that he was the bad guy of the story. So now the members of the board and Obie were all mad at him too. It was times like this where all he wanted to do was curl up in a ball and hide away from the world until they forgot who he was. That wasn’t going to happen however because he was Tony Stark the man just about everyone loved to hate.

\---

The lights in the dorm kitchen were on Steve noted as he and Gaomon made their way towards the room. While this wasn’t an odd occurrence for any other night it made Steve wonder who else the upcoming finals had awake at unholy hours of the night. Bare feet padded softly against the course carpet of the hallway as Steve and his digimon partner made their way towards the soft light spilling out of the kitchen doorway. 

The pair stopped however before entering and peered through the opening in order to determine who it was that had beaten them to the room. Blue eyes took in the dark haired form that was leaning against one of the small tables that sat in the room. Steve wasn’t sure if he wanted to beat his head against the doorframe or not because out of all the people it could have been it had to be Tony Stark that was sitting at the table. It wasn’t that he hated Stark it was just that the two of them tended to rub each other the wrong way far more often than not. Steve turned his head and opened his mouth to say something to Gaomon about going back to their room only to be interrupted before he even had a chance to begin. 

“Don’t stand in the doorway all night. If you’re going to enter then enter and if not then leave.” A soft yet muffled sounding voice called from the other side of the room. Two heads turned to take in the black armored form of Stark’s partner digimon, PawnChessmon. The shield and lance that the other Digimon usually carried were nowhere to be seen instead the black digimon was carrying a small plate piled high with graham crackers covered in peanut butter and a glass of milk. When neither Steve nor Gaomon moved from the doorway the digimon shook her armored head and began moving again. 

“Suit yourselves then.” PawnChessmon called as she sat the plate and glass in front of her digidestened and took a seat beside him. Whatever she said after was too low for Steve to hear from where he was standing and asking Gaomon to ease drop would only get him into trouble with the other boy and his digimon. Not that Steve would anyways. Both he and Gaomon had been raised better than that. So instead of doing anything that would cause trouble between them Steve made his way over to the box of graham crackers that had been left out and began to assemble his own late night snack. 

“Should we sit with them?” Steve asked as he put the crackers back into the proper cabinet. Gaomon turned his had so that he was looking at the other pair and placed his chin on one of his glove covered paws as he thought about it. A few seconds later he nodded. 

“Can’t do anything other than tell us to move. Seems like it’d be worth a shot.” Neither human nor digimon looked up as he approached that table and Steve took that as a good sign. Steve stopped just short of reaching the table however and chewed his lip for a moment. It was Gaomon however that rolled his eyes and pulled out a chair. The blue and white dog nodded at PawnChessmon before kicking the seat beside him out from under the table. Steve winced at the sound it made but took the hint for what it was and sat down. 

The click of his plate on the wooden table top seemed much louder than it should have and for a second Steve was sure that either Stark or his digimon would say something but neither one did. Instead the four of them sat at the table and ate their late night snack in semi-uncomfortable silence.  
\---  
The music was loud enough to make the glasses on the table in front of him rattle just the way he liked it. The bottom floor of his mansion was full of people that were more than happy to brink his booze and eat his food. And there were plenty of women for him to choose from if he wanted to have a little fun later that night. It was everything that a Tony Stark party was expected to be and if someone were to look at him all they would see was a spoilt brat having the time of his life and throwing away money like he was breathing air. And that person who looked at him and thought he was happy would be dead wrong. 

While the music rocked and the alcohol and food was great that was about the only thing he was really enjoying. The people that surrounded him didn’t know him at all and only cared about his fame and money. It didn’t help that one of the few people he really wanted there wasn’t. Not that he could be mad that Rhodey had missed his birthday for the second year in a row. The man was off doing whatever it was he did when he was deployed and not even Tony’s birthday was enough to get his leave.

So Tony was surrounded by strangers who liked to think themselves his friends when the only one there he could really stand at all was Pepper but the red head was making herself scarce and he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at her for it. Not when all he really wanted to do was go down to his workshop and finish the blueprints for his latest weapon. But he couldn’t because he was Tony Stark and this was how he lived his life. Surrounded by people and utterly alone.

 

\---

 

“He called you a demon.” Steve said his voice flat as he addressed the man standing in front of him. Tony didn’t move an inch from where he was standing on the observation deck. The brunet stood so still that for a moment Steve wasn’t sure that Tony even knew he was there. Then the other man sighed and turned so that they were facing one another. 

“Yes,” Tony admitted, “He did call me a demon. That’s what one tends to be when they dig their way out of Hell. I’m not actually sure if I am one though at least not yet anyways.” Tony’s voice was calm. Calmer now than it had been when Michael had been sneering down at him and spitting poison in the hallway earlier. If Steve hadn’t been there he wouldn’t have known that the confrontation between the two had ever even happened. 

“If you aren’t a demon then what are you?” Steve asked. The desire to know was burning deep in his gut. His future with Tony all depended on the man’s (demon’s) answer to his question because Steve couldn’t bring himself to stay if Tony was going to drag him to Hell or corrupt his eternal soul. Tony chewed his bottom lip and his fingers tapped a rhythmless tune against the arc reactor.

“I don’t know Steve. I was something else entirely before I went to Hell. The body I’m living in now doesn’t have any powers, at least not that I know of, and for all intents and purposes I’m as human as they come.” 

“And before you went to hell? What were you then?” Tony smiled a small sad smile that Steve knew not many people got to see. “Mikael knows my name and enough about me to ream me about being a demon. What do you think I was Cap?” Steve frowned and shook his head because the mere thought that had filled his head was ridiculous even for Tony. 

“That’s impossible.” Tony laughed the sound sharp and bitter. “Not impossible Steve just improbable. I’m not the first to have fallen and I won’t be the last.” An angel. Tony had been an angel before Hell.

“What made you fall?” Steve asked and prayed the Tony’s answer was something good. Mikael had spoken about those who fell and about humans who made deals with demons. He hated all of them with a passion so great that it was frightening. The arc-angel didn’t even care if the reason for the sin had been to save a single life or a hundred. Tony sighed and shook his head.

“I can’t tell you, Steve.” Steve growled and his fingers curled into fists. “Tell me Tony or I swear we’re over. Tell me why you fell.” Steve didn’t raise is voice though any observer wouldn’t have been able to tell by the way Tony flinched. 

“I can’t tell you why because I don’t remember Steve.” Tony’s eyes were pained as he spoke. “I can barely remember being an angel. When I think back almost everything is my time in Hell.” Tony shuddered his whole body jerking with the movement and the anger that had nestled deep in Steve’s belly melted away. He knew that Tony wasn’t lying to him about this because Tony had that look on his face that said his nightmares were too close again and a fine tremor was bringing to work its way through his body. Stepping forward Steve wrapped his arms around Tony in a tight hug and sighed. 

“I believe you but if you remember will you tell me?” Tony’s head gave a swift jerk up and down before he set it against Steve’s shoulder. 

“You’ll be the first to know Capsicle. Well second to know because I’ll be the first to know obviously…”

\---

Pain burned though his body like liquid metal as one of the men standing over him cut into his chest with a scalpel. It didn’t seem to matter to these people that he was awake and if the laughing that just managed to reach him over his own screams was anything to go by they didn’t seem to care either. Tony decided then that he hated these people more than he’d ever hated anyone else except for Justin Hammer. 

These people who laughed because he was screaming while some man dig into his chest with cold metal. He didn’t even know what this man was doing and he didn’t really care because whatever he was going hurt. Hurt worse than any other injury he’d ever gotten in his life and that included the time some dumbass kidnapper had shot him in the leg when Tony had knocked over a table and startled him. That and every other injury ever pales in comparison to this because he could hear a sharp whirring sound and he knew what that sound meant even if he couldn’t remember what it came from. 

The man above him was speaking sharp words and the men around him were arguing with him over something but in the end he could only assume that they were doing what he’d asked because they were holding him down even though he was already tied. Not only that but the whirring was back and he still couldn’t figure out what it was coming from. It didn’t much matter because a few seconds later he saw the saw bit it wasn’t the type of saw he was used to seeing and on occasion using. This was the type of saw they used to cut through things that weren’t wood and he didn’t even have half a chance to wonder what they were going to use it for before the man above him was cutting through bone.

If he’d thought the man above him cutting into his skin had hurt he apparently didn’t know pain because this this was pain. Great waves of it crashing down around him before he even had a small chance at getting used to it. Enough of it that he couldn’t even seem to pass out from it and there was nothing more he wanted at that moment than to pass out because this was something that he was going to be burned into his brain for the rest of his life. This would be one of those things that haunted his dreams.

\---

Ager, determination, and fear coursed through his veins and he ignored the pain of muscles that were still over stressed and damaged as he moved forward. He would ignore the agony and sorrow that screamed through him at Yinsen’s death for as long as he could and after that he’d ignore it even more because with the rage gone those feelings would only be stronger. For now he had a job to do and he was going to do it even if it was the last fucking thing he did on Earth. The men (terrorists) before him would pay for the life they had taken and for the promise that they’d forced him to break. Because if he couldn’t get Yinsen home then he could at least burn the people who had taken him from his family and his family from him. 

Killing these men was something that he could do and perhaps if he were anyone else the ease with which he killed the men before him and the utter lack of remorse he felt would have bothered him. But it didn’t. He didn’t care about the people he was killing and he didn’t care that he didn’t care. It was possible that this lack of caring made him just as much of a monster as these men but he didn’t care about that either. All he cared about at this moment in time was finishing this and getting away from the god forsaken desert that had played stage to this stage of his life. 

Then, then he could start over and try to be a better person. He could try to right the wrongs that the world had shown him and that he’d been too blind to see before. And he’d start here in the desert where far too much innocent blood had been shed. This place where far too many good people had died saving a man who wasn’t worth their sacrifice.

\---

It felt like his heart was breaking in two and given the events that had just taken place it was entirely possible that it was. Obie had betrayed him. Obie who had been there for him in every way that his father should have been but never was. Obie who he loved just like a father and who had just ripped the arc reactor from his chest and left him to die. Obie who hated him enough to have him kidnapped and tortured in a cave. 

Obie who was going to kill Pepper just because he knew that the mere thought would cause Tony more pain than almost anything else the man had done to him. He wanted to laugh, cry, and scream his pain to the heavens above because he of all people should have known better. He should have known that Obie had only been using him to get what he wanted. Should have remembered that he was only as good as the last thing he made and that no one tried to see him for him. 

No one cared to look past the mask he wore every day and no one wanted to try and see the damaged man underneath the playboy façade. Well that wasn’t completely true. Pepper and Rhodey had both tried and while there were still things that neither of them knew they knew a lot more than most people. 

Not that them knowing things really mattered all that much at the moment because Obie was going to go after Pepper and it was all his fault for getting her involved with this and Pepper had never done anything to disserve what was about to happen to her. He grunted as he rolled off of the couch that Obie had left him lying on and hit the floor his bones jarring on impact. Muscles creaming and heart pounding harder with every passing second he just barely managed to put one arm in front of the other and crawl towards the elevator. He had to get to Pepper.

\---

Looking at the thick black lines that were just beginning to appear around the arc reactor Tony felt nothing more than a mad desire to bang his head off of the nearest wall and laugh like a lunatic. Because of course as soon as he thought things in his life were getting better something like this went and happened. 

Just as things in his life were starting to look up he found out that the very thing that was keeping him alive was what had been making him feel so sick lately. At first he’d just thought it was the Flu but the symptoms had persisted and only gotten worse as time went by. And now instead of simply spending some unknown amount of time a day with a headache or puking his guts up he was dying. 

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the thought because of course this was his life. He thought he’d learned his lesson after the thing with Obadiah and Iron Monger but apparently not. Apparently he needed the reminder that nothing good in his life ever lasted long. God, not only was he dying but he’d have to tell Pepper, happy, and Rhodey that he was going to kick the bucket.

And that, that was the very last thing he wanted to tell them. He didn’t want them to have to watch as he died a slow death. Didn’t want them to treat him any differently than they treated him now and he knew that that was what would happen if he told them. The question was; “Was it better to let them suffer with him or let them be angry and hurt that he hadn’t told them?”

\---

There was nothing before him. Nothing but stars and the deep black of space and a ship full of creatures that wanted him and his entire race dead and gone so that they could rule. And for a second the sight before him was enough to make him forget that there was no air for him to breathe and that Pepper hadn’t answered his call before he’d been too far out for the signal to reach. Now he was simply floating and watching as the nuke that he had carried on his back made its way towards it newest target. 

A target that wouldn’t leave a city full of people dead. There was a moment of pride for what he had done and he was grateful for all the lives that his sacrifice would save because while it was true that he was selfish he wasn’t so selfish as to wish death upon an entire city full of innocents. After a few moments the pride faded away and was replaced with the ache of oxygen starved lung and the hurt of a heart that was already dead and simply didn’t know it yet. So doing the only thing he could do at that moment in time he watched as the nuke struck home. 

Watched as the flames engulfed their target and wondered if anyone would thank him for his sacrifice. Wondered if anyone would care that he had died saving them at the cost of his own life. As everything started to finally fade away into nothing and as his eyes closed he wondered if this was enough to make him the good man he tried so very hard to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so here the list. I'm going to warn you guys now that there's a very good chance you won't see chapter three for a few weeks. While I have started it I'm not very far and I'm going to a con in Florida Thursday and won't be back till Monday. So I'm going to try and get chapter three up before the middle of August. Please let me know what you think. I can't do stories based off of the drabbles unless I know which one's your interested in seeing me expand. Also feel free to ask me questions.
> 
> Avengers/Avatar  
> A/B/O AU  
> Avengers/Doctor Who  
> Medieval AU  
> Avengers/Zoids  
> Zombie Au  
> Avengers/His Dark Materials  
> Mutant AU  
> Avengers/Hunger Games  
> Tarot (Soulmate) AU  
> Avengers/Push  
> College AU  
> Avengers/House of Night  
> Shapshifter AU  
> Avengers/FMA  
> Dragon AU  
> Avengers/Digimon  
> Angel/Demon AU


	3. Finding Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve walks and he'll walk until he finds the man he loves. There's no stopping until that happens.

Steve gasped as his vision cleared and he was left looking at the blue and black below him. There were no more stars that weren’t stars but other lives and no more memories from Tony’s past. Now there was just the strand and him and (Steve’s breath caught in his throat) Tony on the other end eyes closed to the world and falling faster than Steve could manage. The space around them flickered for just a moment and in that moment Steve could see New York below him and the black of road beneath Tony. A black road that Tony was going to hit full force and this time there would be no Hulk to catch him and no armor to help absorb the impact.

Now there was just Tony who was human and breakable and falling towards his death while Steve tried his best to scream and reach him. When the blow against the road came however the black beneath didn’t crack and splinter with the force of impact but rippled outwards like water displaced by a thrown pebble and instead of crashing to the ground Tony sank beneath the surface.

Steve blinked and dared for a moment to hope that he just might have a chance to save his lover after all when the world around him faded away and only the black water and the red thread tying him to Tony remained. As the water’s surface neared Steve took a deep breath and extended his other arm like a diver jumping off of a board. The water he dove into seconds later had that small preparation falling apart however as the cold took hold of Steve’s body. And for a second he wasn’t in the black water looking for Tony but flying a plane into the icy Artic.

The cold forced its way into the marrow of his bones and wrapped around his heart like skeletal fingers threatening to tear it out of his chest while it was still beating. The feeling of cold might have lasted forever or for only a few seconds but it was quick to fade when there was a soft tug on Steve’s finger. Steve blinked the cold and past fading away and looked down at the line of red that cut its way through the water like a lighthouse but instead of leading Steve to shore it was leading to Tony.

He didn’t even think about trying to go up for air instead he simply angled himself down and started swimming as fast as he could. It didn’t seem to matter however because no matter how far or how fast Steve swam he didn’t seem to be getting any closer to his destination. It was getting harder to hold his breath with every passing second and he knew that before long he’d have to try and break the surface for air or he’d drown. And if he drowned then he’d never find Tony.

It was with a heavy heart and burning lungs that Steve forced himself to stop swimming down and start swimming back up towards the surface of the water again. Steve must have gone deeper than he’d thought because he couldn’t see any of the lights that had filled the air when he’d first fallen into the water. It was just as his lungs were starting to truly burn and his vision was starting to go black around the edges that the fingers of his hand touched something solid above his head.

Blue eyes widened in shock as Steve wrapped his fingers around the hard surface and pulled. He came up through a round hole cut into the almost rock like surface his fingers had touched. Had it not been for the rough and familiar texture Steve would have thought that what he was touching was ice but it wasn’t. Steve knew how ice felt and this wasn’t ice. It felt more like asphalt. As Steve finished pulling himself through the hole, the world around him shifted buildings forming out of nothing and coming from nowhere. Steve took a step forward before turning to look at the hole he’d climbed through.

Only when he looked the hole wasn’t there. There was only the dark black asphalt of the road he was standing on. A sharp tug at his fingers turned Steve’s attention back to what was truly important. Looking down Steve’s eyes traced the thread from his finger to where it was hovering in the air. The line was straight and pulled taunt and Steve hoped that there wouldn’t be another change in scenery or at least that he wouldn’t have to swim anymore. Steve shook his head and took a deep breath before he began walking forward.

The cityscape around him was deadly silent and still and the further he went the more he wished that he had his uniform and shield with him. Or at least his shield but here he had nothing more than the red thread to show him the way to Tony.

Yuèlǎo hadn’t told him how he was to defeat this dark entity. He’d only been told that he had to follow his end of the thread to Tony and that was all. Either the god hadn’t known how to beat the darkness or he’d withheld the information on purpose. From what little Steve had seen of the man however it didn’t seem like that would have been the case at all. Yuèlǎo had gone out of his way to help him save Tony and even if he had doubted the god Thor had said that Yuèlǎo couldn’t lie to him.

A sharp tapping noise caused Steve to stop and look around him. The streets were empty of course and it seemed entirely possible that he was merely hearing things in the silence. It made Steve wish there was noise. The type of noise didn’t matter at all so long as there was something to show that he wasn’t there alone like he was beginning to think he was. A high pitched scream filled the air almost seconds after Steve’s wish.

“I take it back. No noise is better than screams.” Especially when there was a very good chance that he had recognized the scream as Tony’s. It was a sound that wasn’t often heard out loud and when it was the sound had always made Steve shiver because it took a lot to make Tony scream like that: raw and full of anguish and fear.

So without even thinking about it Steve began to run in the direction he’d heard the scream come from. He didn’t know if he’d get anywhere but moving was better than standing still and doing nothing. Doing nothing wouldn’t help him get to Tony. Wouldn’t let him help the man he loved more than anything. So Steve ran as if his life depended on it only it wasn’t his life that was on the line but Tony’s. It took a long time for anything around him to change and even then was a slow almost unnoticeable change. Dark shadows began to crawl up the buildings he was running through and the further he ran the darker and bigger they became.

Eventually the only light was the glowing red of the thread around his finger and the shadows it cast made what little Steve could see glow in an almost sinister fashion. The thing that was worse than the darkness however was the silence that had resumed only seconds after Tony’s scream. Steve would have called out Tony’s name until his voice was completely gone if he had thought the action would do any good. It seemed more likely that calling for Tony would only bring them both trouble however and Steve wasn’t willing to risk it.

“Steve, where are you going?” Steve jerked to a stop and spun around in a circle looking for the source of the voice that had just spoken. Blue eyes darted back and forth wide with something that might have been fear or might have been shock.

“Bucky?” Steve asked the darkness around him. The voice had been Bucky’s. Steve knew that just like he knew the nicks on his shield and that Tony liked watching Disney movies when he couldn’t sleep and wasn’t in the mood to tinker in his workshop.

“Where are you going? We’re taking the girls dancing.” It seemed to take forever but eventually Steve was able to pick out Bucky’s form in the darkness. He was wearing the same thing he’d been wearing the night before Bucky shipped out for war and the same night that Erskine had changed Steve’s life by giving him a 1A stamp instead of the 4F his body had earned him before. Steve closed his eyes tight and hoped that when he opened them again that the man in front of them would be gone, a simple trick being played by the shadows around him.

When he opened his eyes again Bucky hadn’t gone like he had hoped. In fact the shadows around him had changed. Now he was standing outside of the Modern Marvels building surrounded by people and Bucky was standing before him looking more amused than anything at his wondering off.

“Come on Steve, we’re taking the girls dancing.” Bucky said as he tilted his head backwards at the two girls that were waiting for them. Steve didn’t say anything simply turned and looked for the recruitment advertisement that he hadn’t been tall enough to see himself in. It wasn’t there however. The area where it had been sitting was empty and the building behind it was dark the lights off.

Breath catching in his throat Steve turned his eyes down towards his hands and was relieved to see that for whatever reason they were still the same. They were still the same hands that he’d been using to keep people safe for years and not the small skinny hands of a man too sick to fight the battles he so desperately wanted to..

“Steve.” Bucky called and it was clear that he was trying to get Steve’s attention. “Are we going dancing or not?”

“No.” Steve said as he turned his eyes back to the thing that looked like his best friend. Steve knew that it wasn’t however because his best friend had been dead for over seventy years. His best friend had fallen from a train when Steve hadn’t been able to catch him in time and there wasn’t anything short of the darkest of magic’s or the most evil of science’s that could bring him back to life again. Being too late wasn’t a mistake that he planned on repeating with Tony.

“What do you mean no?” Not Bucky asked a slightly annoyed growl entering his voice.

“I mean no. You’re not Bucky and we’re not going dancing.” Steve said as he turned around and bean walking away. It seemed the best thing to do in his current situation. Just turn around and walk away and hope that the thing he’d turned his back on decided to play nice and not attack him. It was never that simple of course because Not Bucky gave a loud sharp screech that made Steve jerk and want to cover his ears to block out the sound.

Steve was just starting to turn back around when Not Bucky slammed into him. The pair of them went crashing to the ground. Steve gasped as the air was knocked out of his lungs. It was a sensation that he was used to however and it was only a matter of seconds before he’d managed to roll over and knock the thing that had boar him to the ground off of him. The thing, because it sure didn’t look like Bucky now, hit the ground several feet away with barley a sound. Steve rolled and was back on his feet in seconds.

This time however he made sure to keep the shadowy creature within his line of sight. This thing he was now apparently fighting however preferred to stay as far away from him as it could sticking to the darker edges of Steve’s vision. The only part of the shadowy form that was always clear were its glowing green eyes. So the pair of them circled each other Steve desperately wished that he had his shield on his arm.

It didn’t even matter that it might not have been useful in this fight. He always felt better when he had his shield with him. Now however wasn’t the time to wish for something that he’d left behind with his body because if he didn’t focus on this fight then nothing was going to save Tony. A low growl filled the air before the best lunged at him mouth snapping open and shut several times to reveal long sharp fangs.

This time Steve was more than ready for the impact that came with the monster slamming into him. Steve let himself drop to the ground and used the momentum to throw the monster into the air and away. By the time Steve had flipped back up onto his feet the shadowy creature was pacing back and forth in front of him. It was clear that whatever this thing was that it had learned to be cautious of him after just the past few minutes.

The creature growled at him and pulled back into the darkness its form blurring more and more the further away from Steve it went. Once it had retreated so far back that Steve couldn’t see it he considered turning and running again. That however would expose his back to the monster and that would very likely end up with him getting himself killed and that wouldn’t help Tony at all. Neither of course would him standing around dawdling like a fool and getting nowhere. The longer he stayed the higher the risk of him loosing Tony was but if he rushed and was killed by the monster hiding in the darkness then Tony would die anyways. So Steve took the time to turn several slow circles while straining his eyes and ears for any signs of the beast that had played at being Bucky.

When he couldn’t pick up a soft sigh or the vaguest of outlines Steve decided to take his chances. Looking down at the red thread tied to his finger Steve took a deep breath, whispered a brief prayer to God and then began running again. It was the same as before. No amount of running seemed to get him anywhere and nothing changed no matter how many steps he took. Steve could have run for the rest of his life or for the rest of time and not gotten anywhere. Eventually Steve’s steps slowed to a steady walk as his chest heaved in much needed air.

It was the first time in a long time that Steve could remember being out of breath and for half a second he waited for his lungs to close tight and for the air he was breathing to cut off. It never happened however. His breath never faltered and after a few minutes and several deep breathes he could breathe normally again. All that running and for all appearances it still looked like he hadn’t gone anywhere. Only the shadows around him were darker now and if he strained his hearing Steve thought he could just barely make out what might have been whispers in the darkness.

What those whispers might have been saying however were lost to him. Mostly because he wasn’t brave enough to focus and try to figure out what they were saying. Steve didn’t want to know what they might be trying to tell him. What words they might want to whisper in his ears as he ran. The voices had nothing for him. Nothing that mattered anyways and unless they could lead him to Tony they didn’t matter at all.

So Steve pushed the voices to the back of his mind along with the creature that had pretended to be Bucky. And hopefully it was there that the voices would remain, out of sight but not completely out of mind. Steve knew better than to ignore things that might be a danger to him in the future. But Steve knew that if he spent to much time worrying that he'd loose focus and Tony didn't need him doing that right now.

So Steve did what he always did when it came to Tony. He let his mind focus on the man he loved and only on the man he loved. Soon the only thoughts that filled his head were ones of his lover and what they'd do once they were back home and safe in each others arms. It was because of this that Steve didn't hear the voices around him growing louder and louder as he went further and further into the darkness. And it was truly darkness now. Gone were the shadows where the Not Bucky creature had hidden. The only light now was that of the red thread and even it seemed pale and weak in the thickening black.

"Hold on, just a bit longer Tony." Steve mumbled to himself hoping that his words would find the other man where ever he was.

And in order to find him Steve had to do one thing and one thing only. He had to follow the thread. So Steve ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He ran and ignored the voices and the dark forms that began to linger at the corner of his vision. If he paid them no mind then they couldn't stop him from getting to Tony. And stopping him was what those things wanted to do. Steve knew it like he knew the scars on Tony's fingers or the nicks that time and use had put into his shield.

Steve also knew that if he let those thing get to him then both he and Tony would die and while Steve didn't fear the thought of dying the thought of Tony dying was more than he could bear. And Tony, bless his soul, would never forgive Steve if he went and died. Not when Tony was always so willing to take the blame for things that weren't his fault. So even though Steve wasn't afraid of death he couldn't die either.

That left one outcome and one out come only. Both of them were just going to have to make it out of their current situation alive. That of course was easier said than done. Steve stumbled his hand pulling forward as he fought to keep his feet. The thread around his finger had just pulled tight, so tight that had Steve not been moving it would have been tugging him forward. Steve gulped. Surely this meant that he was making progress. Surely the thread going tight was a sign that he was almost to Tony.

"TONY!" Steve screamed into the black around him. His scream didn't echo and sounded flat to his ears. It was almost as if the sound refused to travel more than a few inches from his mouth. There was no way that Tony had heard him if his yell had been that quiet.

"You really shouldn't shout Captain." Steve tensed as he turned towards the voice. For half a second he thought that Not Bucky had come back again. He hadn't. Instead the not person standing in front of him was a stout broad shouldered man with a bald head. Their was something about the man that seemed familiar even though Steve was certain that they'd never net.

"I'm sorry to say that Tony won't be able to hear you. I'd be happy to take a message to him if you want. He's quite busy at the moment. I'm afraid." The man offered him a smile and it was then that the face before him clicked. Steve had never had the pleasure of meeting Obadiah Stane but if he had Steve was certain that the meeting would have ended with his fingers wrapped around the man's throat. He deserved worse for what he'd done to Tony.

"How are you here?" Steve asked and wished again that he had his shield in hand. Obadiah simply smirked. A turn of his lips that showed the devil inside.

"I'm here because Tony remembers. I'm here because at one point in time I help a place in Tony Stark's heart." Obadiah laughed. "I'm here because no matter how much time passes I still haunt your lovers nightmares."

Steve shivered, a slow rage beginning to build in his gut. If Tony was being forced to relive what Obadiah had done to him in any way then Steve would be more than happy to tear the thing standing in front of him apart with his bear hands.

"The question you should be asking my dear Captain is what's going to happen to you now that I'm here because I can tell you that it won't be anything good." Steve tensed and moved backwards a step. If this thing was going to attack him then he was going to be ready. No amount of time however could have prepared him for the blow that was dealt to his stomach by a large metal fist.

Steve sucked in a breath and rolled when he hit the ground. Once not long after the Avengers had actually formed he'd seen a picture of the Iron Monger armor. He'd even been able to watch grainy security footage from the shield database. Steve hadn't been impressed then and he wasn't impressed now. Compared to the beauty that was Tony various Iron Man suits Stane's armor was a hunk of junk. It was like comparing Windows 8 to the latest version of Starktech. There was simply no comparison.

That didn't mean that he wasn't in for a fight however. Stane had a suit. A suit that could fly and shoot missiles while Steve had nothing but his speed, strength, and smarts. He didn't have the uniform that Tony had made for him and he didn't have his shield. He was fighting a metal monster bare handed. His knuckles were going to hurt once he was finished.

"Shall we dance Captain." Obadiah asked as he began to move. The footsteps were clucky at best and Steve fought the urge to wince. He'd gained an appreciation for well build machine's every since he'd moved into the tower. It had nothing at all to do with the fact that Tony's favorite car was anything fast and everything to do with Steve's love of speeding whenever possible.

Watching Obadiah move however was like watching Hulk when he lost his balance only Hulk was more graceful. "Oh, the strong silent type. Tony did always know how to pick 'um."

Steve ignored it. The last thing he was going to do was let the monster in front of him distract him. He knew better than that. So when Stane threw his first punch Steve was able to dodge with ease. The second and third punches were much the same. The kick that can his way was a bit of a surprise but that didn't matter. He'd dodged it too for the most part. His side was going to be a little tender but he'd lived through worse.

All the while Stane kept talking. His subjects varied from Tony to Howard and he even mentioned Peggy and her husband a time or two.

It didn't matter however. Everything the thing before him said went in one ear and out the other. Steve knew better than to listen to what Stane was saying. All the hurtful words were simply a way to try and distract him. Steve was used to distractions. He worked with Tony, Clint, and Thor after all and the three of them were extremely fond on babbling over the com units whenever they were fighting the bad guy of the week.

"Look at you go." Stane said after several minutes of fighting. "Howard hadn't been kidding when he talked about what the serum could do." Stane laughed. "It's such a shame he was so against trying to recreate it. Just think of all the good we could have done with that kind of power."

"You wouldn't have done anything good." Steve hissed as he dodged another missile. "You'd have sold it to the highest bidder and then left the world to rot while you counted all the money you'd made."

"True, very true. Not that it matters because I got the next best thing." Stane laughed." Howard neglected his own son so much that it was easy to get Tony to make whatever I wanted."

Steve lunged to the side and darted behind the Iron Monger suit. He'd read the report documenting the fight between Sane and Tony and if he was lucky he'd be able to get to the wires that controlled the suits targeting system. All he had to do was get to where he needed to be. That was easier said than done of course because it seemed like every time he was about to grab hold of the back of the suit Stane would spin around and Steve would have to move or risk getting hit. Stane had managed to clip him several times already but he hadn't done any real damage yet.

Not the type of damage that would leave him broken and Tony doomed. Steve knew very well that if the thing pretending to be Stane got hold of him then he was done. He didn't have his shield and the suit Stane was wearing would let him tear Steve apart one piece at a time. That was something he wasn't going to left happen. Something he couldn't let happen. The idea of having his limbs torn from his body wasn't very appealing.

"And poor Tony, he was so easy to play with. He was so desperate for someone to look at him that he was willing to do anything." Stane laughed again high and cruel. "The little idiot. He made things so easy for me. It's such a shame that Afghanistan failed. That prick always made things more difficult than they needed to be."

"Him making things hard for you should have been a sign that what you were doing was wrong. You had no right, no reason to be selling weapons to terrorists.'" Steve hissed. "Tony would have done anything for you. All you'd have had to do was ask him and he would have done it."

Stane laughed. "That little shit wouldn't have done what I wanted. He was too much like his father. He was too soft. He didn't understand what was needed to run the company."

Sharp cracks sounded around Steve as bullets flashed. It appeared that the suit had finally run out of missiles and Stane had taken to shooting at him. That was good. Steve could dodge bullets and it was far less likely that he'd die if he got hit by one. All he had to do was keep moving.

That however was becoming harder and harder to do as time wore on. While Steve could fight for hours if and when he had to even he tired eventually. And he was getting to that point. He'd been walking for hours upon hours without taking a break and now he was fighting Stane. The fight between them wouldn't have lasted near as long as it had had Steve been in position of his shield. This fight would have been quick to end if only he had his preferred weapon.

Sharp pain ripped through his leg causing Steve to stumble and fall. Steve cursed as his fingers reached down to touch the injured area. He wasn't at all surprised when his fingers came away red. While Steve wasn't surprised that he'd actually been hit he wished that he hadn't been. The wound wasn't bad but it was painful and it would slow him down and the last thing he needed was to slow down.

"Well look at that." Stane sneered as he stomped over. One large metal foot was placed over Steve's spine and began to push down. Steve grunted but didn't say anything. He wasn't going to give the thing above him the pleasure of knowing how trapped Steve was.

"I've caught me a super soldier." Stane chuckled and pushed down a little harder. "I should shoot you in the head right now and end this foolish spat. Then we'd be able to get back to your lover."

Steve's eyes darted to the string around his finger. Still red and glowing though Steve thought it looked a little less bright than it had before. Like the color was fading.

"It won't be much longer till we break him you know. All that pain and suffering just waiting for us to feed on. If you only knew Captain how good your lover tasted." The thing (sounding less and less like Stane with each passing second) practically moaned. Steve shuttered the sound sending chills down his spine. Blue eyes rolled towards the thing holding him down. Its form just like its voice was beginning to fall apart. Iron Monger was fading away and something else was taking its place. What that thing was however he couldn't quite tell.

Just like the other things it had no clear form. It was simply there a vague shape made of black shadows. "Maybe we'll have mercy on him and let him watch as we kill you. It would only be the right thing to do after all. It wouldn't be right for us to let you die without seeing your lover. You've come so far after all."

For a split second Steve considered fighting back. Throwing the thing off of him and wrapping his fingers around it's throat but a better idea was beginning to take shape in his head. If this thing was willing to take him to Tony then why not let it? Why not play the part and let the shadowy figure pinning him down do the rest of the work?

It'd get him to Tony much faster than if Steve killed the shadow above him and continued running. He was in their domain after all and they had to have a much faster way of getting around.

"What do you say Captain, shall we go see your lover?" Foul breath ghosted against his ear and Steve shuddered. The shadow seemed to take his silence as a yes however because it shifted the position of its foot and pressed harder on his back. It wasn't enough to crush him but it was enough to force the air from his lungs and make it hard for him to breath. It took a moment for Steve to realize that this thing was trying to suffocate him into unconsciousness. A task that would have gone much faster if Steve had been on his front and not his back.

He wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth however. He'd take what he could get and if he had to act like he'd been knocked unconscious then he'd do it. So over the course of a few minutes he let his body relax and his breathing slow. He made sure to put up a bit of a struggle but not so much of one to draw the shadows attention.

While not the best acting his plan worked and after the shadow had kicked him a few times to be sure that he was unconscious he felt something wrap around him and pull. It wasn't a nice feeling. In fact Steve was certain that this was what it felt like to be swallowed by a tar pit. He had a brief moment of sorrow for all the animals and dinosaurs (mostly of the cartoon variety) he'd ever laughed at for getting caught in one.

The process of moving left Steve feeling like he'd been twisted around like a rubix cube. He also felt sticky like he'd rolled around in gum or something. The shadow was quick to move off of his back and make a sharp chirping noise. It was quickly joined by several others and Steve could only assume that they were all talking to one another.

That didn't matter however because the thread around Steve finger had pulled so tight that it would have been cutting off blood flow had it been able to. One sharp blue eye cracked open and followed the red glow. Laying several feet away was from him was the one thing he was after. Tony, deathly pale and very still, was almost within arms reach. All he had to do was get to him and they could go.

That however didn't happen because as soon as Steve's hand crept out towards Tony's still form one of the shadows noticed. A clawed foot slammed down on Steve's wrist and his attention was pulled away from Tony and towards the newest threat.

"So clever, but not clever enough." the shadow purred. At first glance Steve though it looked like some soft of werewolf but the second he blinked the form before his eyes had changed. It stayed as nothing constantly shifting and changing and never settling.

"We knew you were awake the moment you appeared dear Captain. Not all are as foolish as the one who brought you here. He shall be punished for his stupidity. You however will be desert."

Steve twisted his wrist out from under the shadows foot and rolled to his feet. He lunged forward intending to take the shadow in front of him down. His plan failed however because he passed right through and hit the ground with a thud. The shadow laughed and turned to face him.

"I am not so very weak as to be hurt by physical means. Only the weakest of us can be touched by mortal hands." An arm grew out and wrapped around Steve's throat. Steve choked and tried to grab the arm holding him up. He couldn't however because there was nothing for him to grasp.

"Your lover was a feast and soon you'll be joining him. Nothing isn't as bad as one would think." Steve struggled because it was all he could do. If nothing could touch the thing holding him then there was no way to fight back and as much as he hated it he knew that both he and Tony were going to die here.

Steve's eyes caught on the fading red thread that ran between him and Tony before landing on Tony himself. He wondered if Tony had tried to fight too. Wondered if the man he loved had spat curses and taunts at the shadows that had drained him dry. Steve liked to think that he had instead of just letting them eat away at him. It was a nice thought. One that filled Steve with warmth.

And now that he'd started thinking about Tony fighting back he simply couldn't stop. Memories flashed to the front of his mind. Bright memories of him and Tony spending time together or with the team. All the times they'd laughed and loved and fought. There were even, Steve noticed with a soft smile, memories that didn't belong to him but to all the others.

Memories of warmth and taking wing into the sky. Their team winning a tournament or the two of them completing a mission with flying colors. Warm memories of them studying together and building a home with one another. Memories of them in every universe where they'd ever existed. Bright and warm and as strong as his shield.

The shadow holding him shrieked in pain and dropped him. Steve hit the ground like a ton of bricks. Steve climbed to his hands and knees taking deep breaths as his lungs took back what air was owed to them. His gaze was drown not to the shadow still shrieking before him but to the thread around his finger. The thread that had barley been glowing before was now as red as Tony's Iron Man suit. It glowed like a sun and Steve realized with a start that it was the thread that had saved him from the shadow.

Steve didn't even bother trying to hit the shadow when he pushed himself to his feet. Instead he moved towards the one thing he wanted more than anything. He moved towards Tony's still form. He managed to make it this time. The shadows to busy with its own pain. It didn't hurt that the pained sounds it as making seemed to be keeping any of the others away.

"Tony." Steve whispered as he slid a hand under Tony's head. The other man's skin was cold to touch but he was breathing even if his breaths were a bit on the shallow side. He was alive however and that was all that mattered as Steve pulled the other man into his arms and cradled him close.

"Found you Shellhead," Steve whispered, "You sent me on one Hell of a goose chase but I found you in the end and now that I've got you I'm never letting go."

Tony's breathing hitched slightly and for a second Steve dared to hope that the man he loved was waking up. Tony's eyes didn't opened however but he did curl closer to Steve. Steve couldn't help the small smile that crossed his lips. "I love you so much. You have no idea."

A sharp snort caused Steve's head to jerk up and towards the noise. He'd almost forgotten about the shadow. "You think having a soulmate is a blessing?" it asked. "Well more pain to you when he tears your heart out."

It was then that Steve noticed something that he never had before. Hanging from one of the shadows fingers was the tattered end of a thread just like the one that tied him and Tony together. "You had a soul mate."

"Yes, I had a soulmate and she tore my heart in two and left me for another. She swore that she'd love me always and she didn't. So in the end I made sure that neither she nor her lover could be together."

"You killed them." Steve said not at all surprised. It only made sense that something born of pain and misery would feed off of it. And what was more painful than being rejected by someone you loved with your entire being.

"I made sure their end was bloody and just as painful but in the end she got me back." The shadow laughed and stepped forward. "Dear Captain let me put an end to this charade between the two of you before he does to you what she did to me."

Steve growled and pulled Tony closer. "Never," he spat. "Even if Tony did leave me I'd never hurt him. And I won't let you hurt him now."

The shadow tilted his head to the side and grinned. "So be it. I'll simply have to end the both of you then."

He lunged his form a dark blur and Steve wasted not a moment in acting to defend the man in his arms. Steve twisted and turned his open back to the shadow covering Tony with the rest of his body. He was more than happy to do for Tony what the man had done for him countless times. Steve didn't even care that all those times had been in battle when Tony was wearing the Iron Man armor.

Tony was more durable but Steve was more durable than Tony out of the armor so protecting him now only made sense. Steve would have done this for anyone that needed to be protected but it was so much easier to protect the man he loved with all of his heart and soul.

So Steve stayed crouched over Tony and waited for the impact that he was certain was going to come at any moment. It never did however and after waiting for what seemed like a small eternity he turned his head to look. The shadow hung in mid air unmoving and not making any noise. A soft red glow surrounded its form and for a second Steve thought of Sue Richards invisible shields. This wasn't that however. What it was Steve could only guess and his guess was that this had something to do with the threads. Either broken or whole.

Steve glanced down at the thread that tied him to Tony only to see that it wasn't there anymore. It had vanished as if it had never existed. And Steve had a feeling that he knew where it had gone.

Blue eyes turned back towards the shadow. "You can't hurt us now can you?" Steve asked not expecting an answer. The shadow sneered but remained silent. "You can't hurt us because we're together now. We're together and your alone and you can't touch us because of it."

Steve laughed a small laugh. Everyone had always told him that he and Tony did amazing things together. While Steve had never doubted anything the two of them had done this was different. This was happening because they were together. This had happened because he'd been brave enough to follow Tony into a world of shadows, and sorrow. All this because he loved Tony so much more than he loved himself.

Steve bent down and pressed a soft kiss to Tony's forehead. "Lets go home." He whispered as he stood and began walking away. He couldn't touch the shadows but neither could they touch him now. He was safe and so was Tony and now they were going home. Steve didn't knowhow long the journey would take but he was more than willing to walk for as long as it took him to get them there.

oOo oOo oOo

There was no slow rising into wakefulness nor did he jerk awake all of a sudden. Waking up from his journey was simply like waking up everyday. Steve blinked and was awake instead of asleep. He didn't feel sore or tired. In fact he felt well rested and ready to take on whatever idiot decided to make a menace of himself. He felt like he could take on Thor and win.

All in all Steve felt great. He was feeling so good in fact that it took him a moment to remember that he'd managed to get Tony and bring him back. He was up and across the room in a flash after that taking Tony's hand in his as he sat down in the chair that he'd been sitting in before. "Time to wake up now." Steve said before he kidded the back of Tony's hand.

Tony felt warmer than he had before and some of his color had come back. Tony didn't so much as twitch however. He was just as still now as he had been before. Steve frowned and rubbed at the hand in his. What if he'd done something wrong and Tony wasn't going to wake up?

Steve took a shuddering breath and placed a hand on Tony's face his thumb running along his cheekbone. "Please wake up. I can't do this without you."

It was easier to admit than it should have been but it was also true. Steve didn't know what he'd do if Tony never woke. He didn't know how long he'd last if Tony was taken away from him and that was the problem. It was always the problem because everything about his body said that he was going to live longer than the man he loved by a long long time. Steve didn't think about Tony's mortality often but when he did it was a pit of despair that he had difficulty getting out of.

Steve leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Tony's lips even though he knew that nothing was going to happen. A kiss to the lips only worked in fairy tales and not in real life. There was nothing that Steve could do now but wait.

"Do not despair?" A soft voice said from behind him. Steve didn't even bother to turn and see who it was.

"You told me that he'd wake up if I went and got him."

"Yes, I did and it wasn't a lie. He simply needs to rest for awhile. He'll wake up in his own time."

"Yuèlǎo?" Steve asked, "The shadows. The one that I faced in the end. Was he...?"

Yuèlǎo nodded. "Yes, he was the one I meddled with and in the end he became the first. He started feeding and making more shadows after he died and there was nothing I could do. All of the others I approached that shared your situation failed to reach their soul mates in time and in the end they became shadows too."

"That's really sad."

"Yes, it is. But you've succeeded Steven Rogers where so many other have failed and that more than anything else is proof of the bond you share."

Steve didn't reply. He simply nodded and turned his attention back to the man he loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Abrupt ending is abrupt. Sorry about that but I didn't want to drag the story on until Tony woke up. That really would have been forced and the quality would have suffered for it. I skimmed through this chapter so I probably missed a lot of mistakes. I'll give it another read through eventually and try my best to smooth out all the rough parts. Sorry for making you guys wait so long for the last chapter.


End file.
